Breaking the Chains
by AuraWielder
Summary: Pain. Hurt. Misery. Torture. That was all I ever knew. That was all I was ever used for. I've been a captive of Team Galactic for as long as I can remember and that's all I would ever be to them. Just another experiment. Contains Christian themes.
1. Broken Hope

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

(Note: This story is recommended for teenagers 13 and up due to blood, mild language, violence, and scenes of torture. This is a spiritual drama and features Lucario's belief of God. The text is also specifically designed to lean towards either 'God'; the actual God or Arceus. This story is told in the 1st person and the Point of Views will change throughout the story. The story also takes place BEFORE the Diamond/Pearl or Platinum games. I gave Lucario the ability of speech so he can show deeper emotions.)

Chapter 1: Broken Hope

Pain. Hurt. Torture. Misery. That was all I knew. That was all I was ever used for. I wondered why they had to do this and asked them once. I was met with a whip to the back. So I never asked that again.

I lay on the stone-cold cement floor, shivering, with my paws chained to the wall. I moved my head to look out the small window of my cell. Dawn was just beginning to break through. That meant, soon one of two things would happen.

The first possibility was that a Team Galactic grunt would come in and unlock my cell. They would force me to go to a training ground for the day. It wouldn't have been that bad except for one thing: if I performed worse than average on a task, such as not destroying a certain number of targets or finishing an obstacle course under a satisfactory time, they would hurt me. They would either whip me multiple times, which was extremely painful and burned like hell. Or, they would use an electric shock made possible by a metal device attached to my ankle that's been there for as long as I can remember. It wasn't a much better option. In fact, it was significantly worse. They could sent anywhere between 50 to 50,000 volts of electricity throughout my body. But it never killed me because Lucarios have a higher tolerance for pain than humans.

The other possibility… I don't like to talk about. It's always terrifies me.

I was snapped out of my thoughts as I heard footsteps approaching the cell I was kept in. I heard the rattling of keys as the door opened and light shined through. I clearly saw the figure that stood in the doorway.

It was an adult; 40 to 45 years old, I guessed. He wore a white lab coat and had long black hair that ended in a mullet. His figure was husky. But perhaps his most distinguishing feature was his blue scanner goggles. They were the absolute defining feature on him that screamed 'evil'. His name was one I learned to despise.

"Dr. Anderson." I addressed him. The words tasted like vinegar.

"Get up, Test Subject L-25167." he commanded.

I hated being called a 'test subject' but I did as he said.

"My name is Aaron." I told him.

He looked at me in confusion. "What?"

"That is my name; Aaron. What my parents named me. It means 'strength'. Is there a problem, doctor?" I questioned him.

"In fact, yes. You're an animal."

'Animal' felt like a degrading term, in the way he used it. But technically, I am one. A Lucario, to be exact. Lucarios look like blue and black bipedal jackals with a furry yellow torso. We possess aura, which is our power as well as our life force. We also bear resemblance to the ancient Egyptian god, Anubis.

"You're not even deserving of a name." he laughed.

Dr. Anderson took out his whip. I dreaded the sight of that object. The whip was a cat of nine tails, probably the most painful type of whip in existence. Unlike a normal whip, it had 9 ends so it can hit you in 9 different locations. He whipped it 1…2…3…4…a total of 5 times. I felt the stings on my back as blood seeped out of the wounds.

I used my aura powers to heal some of the wounds, but I was too exhausted to heal them completely.

"Test Subject L-25167, come with me to the Examination Lab, and don't dawdle!" Dr. Anderson demanded.

Had I a choice, I would have refused him but I had none. I had to comply; otherwise, he would whip me again. He unlocked my cuffs and I followed him out of my cell and into the hall.

The hall was sterile and eerily quiet. We didn't pass by many people, but the ones we did gave me malicious looks. I learned to ignore these gazes overtime, but there was something about them I couldn't shake off. As if I was a pawn in some sort of plan…

"Here we are." the doctor announced in front of a mechanical gray door. To the side of the door was a metal plate that read 'Examination Lab'.

_"That plate should read, 'the Torture Chamber.'" _I said to myself.

The door opened with one swipe of a keycard that Dr. Anderson possessed. He stepped in, and I followed.

The Examination Lab… couldn't exactly be called a cheery place. It actually gave off a kind of…creepy vibe. It was a small room, but slightly larger than my own cell. The ceiling and walls were a ghostly white, and the floor was linoleum. Various pieces of machinery lined the walls of the room, with many wires, cables, and needles sticking out. The other ends of them all let to the center of the room, on top of a stainless steel table.

"Get on." he ordered.

_"Like I really have an option…"_ I thought to myself. I leaped onto the table and laid down. He confined me to the table with restraints. He took the various wires, cables, and needles and attached them to EVERY PLACE IMAGINABLE, I kid you not. No part of my body was left untouched. My head, pointed ears, paws, torso, tail, etc. It was extremely painful. And unfortunately, the pain would never completely subside, just soften a little.

After he was done, he began to mumble a few incoherent words to himself. I managed to make out some of it.

"Looked there…there…There must…need to extract…aura..."

I sighed. _"Doc says the same gibberish every time." _But I have figured out a few things by listening to the guy. The last few visits I made to this room, he's said some similar things. He needs my aura for something, but for what; I'm not sure.

My questions would be answered that day, as someone walked in; probably to check on the doctor.

He was tall; taller than the doctor and I. He had spiky blue hair and wore a black shirt and jeans. He also sported a gray vest with the Team Galactic symbol. His face showed absolutely no emotion. This guy spooked me. Big-time. I've never seen him before, but one look at him and I knew he was of importance.

"M-M-Master Cyrus!" stuttered Dr. Anderson. "It's rare for you to m-m-make a visit down here. C-C-Can I get you anything?"

"No, I am fine." was his response. He sat down on a nearby chair and began to talk with the doctor.

"So, have you figured out a way to extract the aura, yet?" Cyrus asked, sounding bored.

"W-W-Well, I kn-know he has a location t-t-to e-ex-extract the aura, but I c-c-can't determine the l-l-location." Dr. Anderson stammered.

It was easy to tell the doc was very nervous of this man.

"Well then," began Cyrus. He stood up and approached the doctor. "You had BETTER determine that location. Finding a way to extract that aura without KILLING him DURING the process is key to our plans to create the Ultimate Pokémon. And taking it directly from his aura center is the ONLY way to do it."

I heard only a few of the key words but I could perform the math. _"Aura center…extraction…create the Ultimate Pokémon…It all fits together now. But…is it really true?"_

Cyrus was just about to leave when I called out to him.

"Wait."

He walked over to the table I was confined to and stared me straight in the eyes.

"Yes?" he asked cruelly.

Before I could get a word out, Dr. Anderson approached Cyrus.

"I'm so sorry, sir. He shouldn't even be speaking to you. I'll make sure he…"

"Calm yourself, Doctor. I am interested in what he has to say."

Cyrus again stared at me directly in my eyes, sending shivers down my spine.

"Continue." he spoke coolly.

I gathered up my courage and began to speak.

"You said that you need my aura to create the Ultimate Pokémon, right?"

"That is correct." he confirmed.

"Then…if you extract my aura…what happens to me?" I asked anxiously.

"Oh, that's easy to answer…You die."

I became panic-stricken upon hearing I would die.

"I d-d-d-die?" I stuttered. _"THAT part I didn't hear!"_

He patted me on the head. "Don't worry." he said. "You'll be doing us a big favor and Project Alpha will finally be complete." Then he left the room without another word.

I felt a watery substance forming in my eyes. They were tears, but I had to fight to keep them back.

When I could see again, I saw Dr. Anderson pick up a surgical knife off a nearby tray. I gulped. This was going to be painful.

He approached me. And then slowly and carefully but extremely painfully, cut open my chest with it, just to the right of the large spike on my chest. And I wasn't under anesthesia, mind you. It felt like…have you ever accidently cut your finger with a knife? Maybe almost cut through it entirely? It was about a billion times worse.

My heart seared with heat, and every 'thu-thump' was now the equivalent of a Magnitude 6 earthquake. I resisted all urge to scream in pain. If I did, Dr. Anderson would likely shock me with that stupid little remote he keeps in his pocket. So, I kept my mouth shut.

My heart was now exposed to the air. I could actually see it thumping now as the doc began to examine the four-chambered organ. I tried to keep my mind off of it by counting the ceiling tiles. However, I quickly reached the number of 32. I looked around, seeing if there was anything else that could keep me from focusing on the intense pain.

I saw two monitors to my right of my head. From what I could tell, they kept track of my heart and aura rate.

I should probably explain. Just as a human has blood pressure, Lucarios have an aura rate. They work similar as if a human had too low or too high blood pressure; we could also die of a too low or high aura rate. Aura pulses through our bodies, just as blood goes through a human.

Something I've noticed though… Both my heart and aura were displayed on two separate monitors, yet the two had the exact same rate, represented graphs, and bpm (Beats per minute). The wires measuring my heart rate were along my upper torso, but the ones measuring my aura rate were all over my body, because the doctor didn't know where my aura center was, but could still get a reading.

After some thinking, I figured it out and unfortunately, the doctor did too.

"Wait a sec…if the heart rate and aura rate are synchronized, then…THAT'S IT!" he exclaimed joyfully. Dr. Anderson took all the wires that calculated my aura rate. The screen that showed my aura rate turned black. Then, he attached all the aura rate wires DIRECTLY into my heart. The sharp ends of the wires pierced the delicate tissues. I howled out in horrifying pain. My body thumped up and down on the table uncontrollably. I tried to, but I couldn't stop screaming, even when the doctor had used electric shocks. The pain of the wires was too much. My vision began to blur, but I could see him taking out a syringe with a green liquid in it. Then…everything went black.

I woke up, back in my cell.

_"What happened?" _I thought to myself. _"Oh yeah…knockout drugs."_

I sat up and looked around. The tyrannical doctor was standing right in the doorway.

"I must admit, Lucario…"

_"At least he didn't call me a test subject this time." _I noticed.

"…You have been very beneficial to our ultimate goal." he calmly stated.

"You mean to create the Ultimate Pokémon?"

The doctor laughed. "I see you've caught on. Bah, no matter. You'll be dead tomorrow morning anyway. Get a good night's sleep, because it will be your last one…"

He then locked the cell and the doctor's footsteps faded away in the distance. He didn't even bother to lock the cuffs today.

I broke down right then and there. The tears I held in the lab came pouring out and even if I wanted to, I couldn't stop.

"Why?" I shouted. "Why does every single day of my life have to be filled with pain and misery?"

It seemed like an eternity had passed before I could regain myself. By that time, I had run out of water to make tears.

I slowly crawled over to a corner of the cell. In this corner was a tile that was very loose. I pulled it up and set it to the side to reveal a small opening. In here, I kept a treasured book. One I've had for as long as I can remember. I took it out and dusted off the cover. The book was a sacred one, an important piece of its religion, but also an important part of me.

I flipped to a page that had my bookmark sticking out, which was actually a photo of me and my parents that was taken shortly before…they died. But I don't want to go into that.

I placed the picture in my side pouch that was really part of my skin.

I got to my knees and began to pray, "My God. I can't take it here any longer. I have been abused, experimented on, and tortured. And they plan to kill me tomorrow, so please; help me escape. I want the chance to see life outside these walls again. And maybe meet…someone who won't hurt me. Someone I can trust. Please, watch over me tonight. And, somehow, help me survive tomorrow. In your name I pray, Amen."

I laid down on the stone-cold floor again; thinking today would be my last day alive. Little did I know He would answer my prayers…

* * *

><p><em>Lucario © 2005 NintendoGame Freak_

_Cyrus © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Story and all other characters (in this chapter) belong to me._

Please R&R. I'd appreciate it.


	2. Breaking Free of Misery

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 2: Breaking Free of Misery

I woke up sometime later to the sound of rustling keys and the screech of the opening door. It wasn't Dr. Anderson this time in the doorway. Instead, it was that blue haired man I saw yesterday. I looked out the window to estimate the time.

_"Dawn hasn't even broken yet." _I noted.

"Get up, Test Subject L-251…"

"Yeah, yeah I heard." was my response. Probably shouldn't have said that, but I am VERY grumpy when waken up earlier than my normal 7:00 time.

"NEVER INTERRUPT ME WHEN I AM TALKING!" he shouted. He took out his cat of nine tails whip and started swinging at me.

I felt the stings of his whip multiple times. 1,2,3,4,5…But he didn't stop there. 6,7,8,9,10… It kept coming and he showed no signs of stopping soon. I lost count of the number of whiplashes somewhere after 25…

Finally, after what seemed like infinite lashes, he finally stopped. I looked at my wounds.

"S..S..So much blood…" I barely whispered. I had no power left to heal the wounds.

"Oh, and by the way, I thought you'd like to know that the reason why I came early in because we finally found a way to extract your aura. The aura transfer machine is ready now, so if you'll just come along with me. But first…" Cyrus smiled, sadistically.

I didn't like that look in his eye. Behind his back, I could see the point of a needle. He had a syringe, but I had no time to react as he was quick and injected a pink liquid into my skin.

"Wha…What was that…?" I asked, beginning to feel extremely tired.

"Sedative. It'll make it easier for me to get you to the lab. But we'll wake you up for the extraction and finally awaken Project Alpha…"

"W..Whyyyy?" I uttered before I slipped into unconsciousness.

I awoke to find myself strapped to a stainless steel table…again. But this isn't the same one as the one in the… Why does my head hurt so much?

I wanted to clutch my head to stop the pain, but my hands were restrained, as well as the other movable parts of my body.

"Finally, you woke up." Cyrus sighed. "I had to hit you over the head 10 times to wake you up, you believe that? Guess I used too strong of a sedative. Ah well."

"Why didn't you just leave me unconscious?" I wondered.

"Because the aura extraction will only work if you are awake. Otherwise, our Ultimate Pokémon will have your aura, but will be unable to use it." he explained.

I noticed three large blue wires connected to a hemispherical suction cup that Dr. Anderson placed over my heart, which also held my aura center; something I figured out yesterday. It didn't hurt; it just felt kinda…funny.

The other ends of the wires were connected to a large machine that was, in turn, connected to a being inside a large glass capsule filled with liquid. The being was floating in the liquid and was very tall; about 7 feet.

"I believe you know what those wires are for, right?" smiled the sadistic Cyrus.

I stared him straight into his eyes, not afraid of his ice-cold gaze.

"You should know that I am not afraid to die." I told him. Actually, I wasn't scared of death, but I just really hoped it wouldn't an excruciatingly long and painful one.

"Don't worry; you'll really be helping us." he laughed. "Pull the switch." ordered Cyrus.

A scientist near a large power switch (who appeared to be young and perhaps inexperienced) nodded and did as he asked.

I expected to feel unimaginable pain coursing through my body, but…nothing. I didn't feel anything at all, with the exception of that major headache Cyrus gave me.

Several seconds of silence passed before I decided to ask, "Am I suppose to feel anything?"

Cyrus groaned. "Why is the machine not working?" he demanded of the nervous scientist.

"I-I-I d-don't know, s-s-sir. The stabilizers are i-i-in working c-condition. The g-g-gyroscopes are…"

"Did you forget to plug it in?" he asked, sarcastically.

The scientist gasped. "That might work!" He ran off to check, carelessly leaving the switch in the 'ON' position.

Cyrus slapped his head, saying 'Dear God, I'm surrounded by idiots…", and I chuckled despite the fact I'll be dying soon.

"YOU WILL BE QUIET!" he commanded.

I did as he said and shut the heck up.

"I found the problem!" shouted the young scientist.

Cyrus, Dr. Anderson, and three other people: a red short-haired woman, a purple-haired woman who had a small stub for a ponytail, and a spiky blue-haired man who; unlike Cyrus, had only two points of his hair sticking up, approached the young scientist who was behind the large machine.

"Well, what is it?" demanded the red short-haired woman.

"It really WAS unplugged!"

Everybody sweatdropped, including me, at the young scientist's stupidity.

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR, THE NEXT ICE AGE? PLUG IT IN, ALREADY?" roared Cyrus.

"Y-Y-Y-Yes, M-M-Master C-C-Cyrus…" trembled the frightened scientist.

He plugged it in and I waited for the machine to start, but instead something completely unexpected happened...the machine… the machine that was to take my life…blew up. Smoke began to fill the room and flames engulfed the large machine. The fire alarm began to sound.

"*cough* *cough* Master Cyrus, what is happening?" asked the nervous scientist from before.

"YOUR STUPID MACHINE BLEW UP, DR. CARTER! THAT'S WHAT HAPPENED!" screamed Cyrus at the top of his lungs.

"Oh…"

"We can't let Project Alpha be harmed! We need to extinguish the fire ASAP! Mars, get the fire extinguisher!" ordered Cyrus.

I couldn't see the woman named Mars leave, as the smoke became extremely thick. However, after a few seconds, I heard a button 'click' and my restraints were released. How? How is this possible? Why would they release me? Maybe it was an accident… That didn't matter as I could use the smoke to make my way out. I took the suction cup off of my heart. Very fortunately, the other people were too concerned about the fire to notice me sneaking out.

I looked around and found a hidden exit behind a desk that was probably used in case of emergencies. (Like now, except they don't want their 'Ultimate Pokémon' to succumb to the fire.)

I crawled through the small space and attempted to find a way out. Unfortunately for me, the air vent network was very long and complex. I eventually came to a three-way fork.

"Darn." I muttered to myself. "Now which way do I go?"

I heard voices coming from behind me; those were probably the people in the main lab. I also heard them to my front and right, so I decided to go left; I had a much better chance of escaping if I went away from the voices.

After several more minutes of crawling, I came to a two-way fork this time and I felt a warm breeze coming through to my right. I figured that the breeze came from outside the base and going to my right would lead me there.

Fortunately, I was right. The path led me to a grate with light shining through on the other side. Sunlight. Something I had not seen in many years. It was easy for me to remove the grate and crawl out.

I knelt down on the soft green grass. I haven't felt it in an eternity. It was so soft compared to the stone-cold cell floor and the steel lab tables. But I had no time to relax. I needed to get out of here, pronto.

I looked down at my foot. The metal anklet…how could I be so stupid? Of course, this escape was futile from the start. Why, you ask? Because not only did the metal anklet serve as an electric shocker, but it also worked as a tracking device. It could only be taken off with a special keycard. If I ran, Team Galactic would surely find me anyway. It's hopeless…I'm gonna die.

I reached my hand into my side pouch to pull out the picture of my parents to look at it one last time. But to my surprise, I felt something else in there besides the picture. It was rectangular and flat. I quickly withdrew the other item from my pocket.

_"A Team Galactic keycard?"_

I flipped the card and saw the back. In a gold cursive font, it read:

'An answer to your prayers.'

_ "How'd this end up my pocket? I surely didn't put it in there… And who wrote this?"_

I decided not to waste time pondering the subject. I inserted the keycard into the metal device and it snapped off. Then I ran.

I ran away from this prison.

Away from this nightmare.

And towards…

Towards freedom.

_Lucario © 2005 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_ Cyrus © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_ Commander Mars © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_ Story and all other characters (in this chapter) belong to me._


	3. A New Light, A New Hope

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 3: A New Light; A New Hope

I ran as fast as my feet could carry me through the forest, which fortunately was very fast, due to the intense training I had received and I had very high stamina, so I probably could've kept going on forever except for one factor…

_"The sedative…" _I realized.

The sedative was beginning to take effect again, but I couldn't collapse now. I wasn't far enough from the Galactic base, because I could still hear loud shouts behind me.

Drowsiness tried to come over me, but I fought it.

_"I'm not going back there. Ever. I never want to see it again as long as I live. The dark, damp cells…the freezing cold lab tables…and all the wires…No. I have to fight it." _I told myself.

I was still running at high-speed, but my vision started to blur. Soon, the bushes and trees became nothing more than green and brown hazes.

I wouldn't give up, though. While my eyes gave in, my legs did not. I used my aura sensing powers to detect where any obstacles were, so I could avoid them. Although, I still hit many things.

I had left the Galactic base far behind, and my energy was starting to diminish. I came out of the forest and I was close to a city. I could tell because all the green and brown hazes vanished and ahead of me were many tall gray blurs.

Unfortunately, I did not realize that this forest was on the edge of a cliff.

I walked straight off it and began tumbling down, down, down through the air.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, thinking I was going to die.

I began to pray, "God, you better make room up there for one more!"

But you wanna know what was actually funny about the whole thing? Something I didn't find out 'til later…it was only a 10 foot drop!

I hit the ground face-first, bruising my furry muzzle.

"Ow…" I groaned, with my face still in the ground and my mouth full of dirt. I sat up and spat it out.

_"Why am I not dead?" _I wondered.

I pondered for only a few seconds, before an unbearable pain took over my head.

"Aaaaaahhhhh!" I clutched my head to try to stop it, but to no avail.

_"It must be the sedative's side effects." _I thought.

It felt like someone stuck a knife in my head. I howled out in pain. I tossed and turned uncontrollably. I felt like I might die but, the effects finally reached my central nervous system and I collapsed, unconscious.

When I woke up, I found myself lying in something…soft and…warm. I discovered I was on a bed, but I never felt one in my life. I was covered with a few blankets: one thin and blue, another slightly thicker but light green, and they were very comfortable. I almost forgot what I was doing here, until I heard someone say…

"I'm glad to see you're still alive."

I turned to the source of the voice and saw a spiky black-haired man, with the spikes forced down. He had on a simple blue shirt, and blue jeans. His eyes were blue, and across his neck was a gold pendant.

I began to sweat. I just now realized that I was in HIS bed without HIS permission! I could be so dead for this…and I didn't want to get whipped. I hopped out of the bed and assumed a fighting position, because if I was going to die; I would die trying.

"Whoa!" he hollered. "Calm down, why don't ya? Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you."

I released my fighting position. Though I was surprised with his claim, I wasn't foolish enough to completely let my guard down.

"You should get back in bed. You still need more rest."

Despite the fact I didn't know this man, and the fact he's saying I should stay here…something…I don't what it was…a kind of nagging feeling, told me I should listen to him. I had to deeply consider this, because of my unforgettable past with humans. But since I had nowhere else to go, I decided to cooperate.

"Yes, sir." I addressed him and slid back into the bed. It was so soft, like lying on a cloud.

"I'll bring you some breakfast, and then I'll check to see how you're feeling. You can watch some TV to pass the time."

He then left the room, leaving me alone. I took this moment to observe my surroundings. The walls of the room were white, but not the sickly, metallic white I've seen in the lab. It was a serene, calming white. The bed I was lying in had a small blue nightstand next to it. On it was a lamp and an alarm clock. It read 8:00 a.m.

"Was I out for a whole day?" I wondered.

I looked ahead of me and saw what he called the 'TV'. It was big. A lot bigger than the monitors in the lab. I shuddered. I didn't want to think about that, so I pushed it backed into the depths of my mind.

I checked my body. Several parts were bandaged up; including the large incision over my heart and the large scratches and cuts I must have suffered during my escape. An ice pack was on the spot where my metal anklet used to be. I found this extremely odd. No one ever took the time to treat any cuts, scratches, burns, or any other form of injury I ever had. I was still skeptical of this human, though. He could just be keeping me, so he can turn me back over to Team Galactic for a big wad of cash.

"Breakfast's ready!" he announced, coming through the door with several foods I had never seen before in my life. He set the tray with the multitude of foods on my lap.

"First, let's check your temperature." he said. He showed me a small, thin kind of scanner. He scanned it over my forehead, and then looked at it.

"98.7. Good. Your fever's gone down. You were in a horrible condition when I found you."

I stared at the plate of food before me. This stuff looked delicious, but for all I know, it could be poisoned. Team Galactic sometimes poisoned my food (which was just nasty sludge) to test my reaction so I was reluctant to touch it.

The man looked at me in confusion. "What are you waiting for? Eat up, you must be starving."

He was right; I was famished. I looked at the food carefully, seeing if there was any trace of poison. After not finding anything, I chose to take a small bite of a yellow fluffy food. I expected to collapse again or go through a seizure but…nothing. No splitting headaches, no vomiting blood, no…nothing. It tasted wonderful. But why…? Why on earth would this human be kind to me…? I was curious about one thing, though.

"What do you mean by 'found me'?"

"Yes, I was actually taking a walk through Veilstone City and I found you unconscious at the base of the cliff to Veilstone Forest." he explained.

"But why would you help me?" I asked him.

He laughed. Not cruelly, but…happily. "I'm not heartless enough to leave a Pokémon to die in the middle of the street. The PokéCenters were closed because yesterday was the 4th of July, so that's why I took you back to my home in Canalave City."

"Oh….OK." I ate up the food he gave to me. Every bite seemed like a small piece of heaven, especially considering the food I've had in the past…

"You enjoy it?" he asked me. I nodded.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I never did introduce myself. My name's Riley." he announced. He stuck out his hand towards me for some odd reason. I wondered what I was supposed to do.

The man…err…Riley looked at me in puzzlement.

"It's a handshake." he told me. "When we shake hands, it's a way of greeting each other. So, may I please have your name?"

We then shook hands. "I am Test Subject L-25167 of Team Galactic Labs." I recited within the span of 2 seconds. I then sunk my body into the covers.

"Test…Subject? Of Team Galactic?"

"You're probably going to turn me in for some kind of reward, aren't you?" I sighed. _"Humans do anything for money…"_

"But I would never."

"What?"

"Man," Riley sighed. "You need to know that the kind of stuff Team Galactic does…it's Pokémon cruelty…and it's illegal."

"How do even know of Team Galactic?" I wondered. "They keep their operations top-secret."

"I've done my research." he said. "But I don't have enough proof to bring them to justice."

"Not like it matters. All humans are the same. Selfish and evil; always thinking about their own personal…" Just then I realized my mistake.

"Uh..I..I..I d-didn't…" I stuttered nervously. If I didn't make him mad before, I was certainly doing it now. I shut my eyes, expecting yelling and thrashings from a whip or some other form of weapon, but he…he smiled at me. Not an evil one, but a remorseful one.

"It's all right." he told me. "You've obviously been through a lot. I can understand why you're scared. I'll just leave you alone for now. Maybe we can chat later."

He turned to leave the room, taking my finished food with him.

I was puzzled. _" I-I don't understand… Why was he being so kind…?"_

"..W..Wait." I stammered.

Riley turned around to look at me.

"Yes?"

"D..Do you want to know my name?"

He nodded. "It would be nice to have a name to call you by."

"O..Ok.., My name is Aaron. It means strength." I told him.

"Good, it's a pleasure to meet you Aaron." he acknowledged. "I'll come in to check on you later, all right?"

_"Aaron. Why does that name sound familiar…?"_ He pondered for a brief moment, but then decided to shrug it off.

He left the room, leaving me alone.

_"It's odd." _I thought to myself._ "Why…Why would this human display kindness toward me? Everyone I know has treated me with cruelty. It…just doesn't make any sense. I think he's probably using me for his own benefit. But… if he is, he's certainly taking some elaborate measures…"_

Sometime later, I had decided to fiddle with what Riley called the T.V. I stared at it. It was big. Bigger than any monitor I've seen in my life. On the nightstand was a small, rectangular black box. Maybe this had something to do with working the T.V.? Curiously, I messed with this, pressing several random buttons until something happened. To my surprise, the T.V. shone with life. Colors gradually faded in until the whole screen was showing. Sound also came through some small holes on the bottom of the T.V.

On the T.V. right now was a program about a cat and a mouse. I decided to watch. The cat was trying to kill the mouse, but the mouse was outsmarting him. During the show, I found myself…laughing like Riley had earlier. I had never laughed before so it was a very weird sound for me to produce. But…it felt great. I couldn't stop laughing at the humorous antics of the cat and mouse.

"Sounds like you're enjoying yourself." said Riley.

I turned to my side and saw him standing in the doorway. Oh no… I shouldn't have been messing with his stuff. Sure he took me in... But that doesn't mean I should've touched anything. I did this once at Team Galactic and was whipped very brutally for it. At the very least, I could've asked for permission.

I quickly turned off the T.V., (I figured out it was that red button in the corner) and set the remote back on the nightstand.

"Sorry…Just go easy with the whip…" I half-whispered, half-pleaded.

He looked at me. "Don't worry about it. You didn't even have to… wait… did you just say 'whip'?"

"Yes…" I whispered.

"So that's what those long cuts on your body were…" Riley sighed. "Who the hell would treat Pokémon like that?"

"Aren't all Pokémon dealt with the same way? They're just slaves to their masters, subject to their master's will…"

I didn't want to, and tried not to, but I began to cry. They started as small drops that quickly turned into waterworks. I finally let all my pain of years of torture go.

To my surprise, I suddenly felt…warm. I opened my eyes with tears still in them, but could make out Riley…hugging me. It felt comforting. Like a nice warm blanket, but better…much, much better.

It seemed to take forever, but my tears finally began to dry up and I looked up at Riley with clear eyes.

"Are you feeling better?" he asked me.

I didn't say a word, but I nodded to let him know.

"That's good."

Riley let go of me and stood up.

"Could you lie on your side, please? I need to check those cuts again. They might be infected."

I agreed to do as he said. He examined the long, thin cuts on my body. He examined my front and back. After a while, he sighed.

"Is something wrong?" I questioned.

"The cuts are worse than I thought. They're infected, but it's not 'trip-to-the-hospital' bad. They should be treatable with some antiseptic. Some wet towels to clot the blood might also be a good idea." he acknowledged. "Wait here, I'll go get them."

When he left the room, I pondered what had just happened.

_"Why? Why would he comfort me? Why would he care so much for me? He has no reason to do so and yet he does anyway. He doesn't even know me. Maybe…Maybe he really does want to help me."_

Riley's POV (Point of view)

_"Whoa…Aaron's really been through a lot, hasn't he?"_

I was in the bathroom at the medicine cabinet, pulling out the antiseptic. I began to soak the small towels in some warm sink water.

_"Someone who does that to Pokémon…whips them…experiments on them…it's just sick. I swear if I ever find out who did this, I'm gonna…"_

I was interrupted of my thoughts when a'DING-DONG!' came from the doorbell.

_"Now who could that be? She's not supposed to come over yet…"_

I put the antiseptic in my pocket, shut off the sink and went to answer the front door.

DING-DONG! DING-DONG!

"I'm coming!" I shouted.

I stood in front of the door, ready to open it.

_"It's probably Maylene." _I thought._ "Maybe she wanted to come by early for breakfast… OK Riley; this is your third date with her, third dates are everything. Don't be nervous; just relax, open the door, and smile."_

I gathered my nerves and unlocked the door, but the person who was behind it, wasn't who I expected.

Who it was behind the white wood; a tall man wearing a white lab coat and black khakis with a husky figure, perhaps somewhere in his early 40s. He had long jet-black hair with a mullet. But what was very odd about him? These blue goggles the man wore. They seemed kind of…menacing, to be honest. Even though I didn't know who this guy was, I had a bad feeling about him.

"Can I help you?" I asked him.

"Yes." the man answered. "My name is Dr. James Anderson. I want to ask you if you have seen my Lucario."

"A Lucario…" I whispered. "Well, what happened?"

"I lost track of him while training in the Veilstone Forest yesterday. I'm very worried about him." he claimed.

_"Yesterday…that's the same day I found Aaron in Veilstone City. Is it just a coincidence?" _I thought.

"So, have you seen him?" he asked again.

I had my doubts about this guy. For one thing, most trainers are in total panic when their Pokémon are lost. He appeared very calm to me, not exactly what I would call 'very worried' and was even… smiling? But this smile seemed almost sadistic.

I wasn't sure if I should tell him that I might have his Lucario. I did find Aaron at the base of Veilstone Forest, but he was in a grave condition. I highly doubted that he was just 'training' him, because no respectable trainer would ever push their Pokémon that far.

And so, I decided…

"No, I haven't seen him."

…to lie.

"Hmm…" He eyed me suspiciously; with me secretly hoping he'd buy the lie. Fortunately, he did.

"Well, okay." said the doctor. "But if you see him, give me a call."

He put a small piece of paper in my pocket which I assumed was a phone number, and then left.

I closed the door and thought to myself; "If that guy is Aaron's owner, why on earth would…he…"

_Several minutes ago:_

_Aaron: "I am Test Subject L-25167 of Team Galactic Labs."_

_Aaron: "All humans are same. Selfish and evil…"_

_Aaron: "Aren't all Pokémon dealt with the same way? They're just slaves to their masters, subject to experimentation…"_

Now it came to me; loud and clear.

Dr. Anderson…

He was with Team Galactic.

He had caused Aaron so much pain.

He had experimented on him…but…why?

What purpose did he have?

* * *

><p><em>Lucario © 2005 NintendoGame Freak_

_Riley © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Maylene © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Story and all other characters (in this chapter) belong to me._

_P.S.: If you like this story, please consider checking out my others on my profile._


	4. Founded Trust

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 4: Founded Trust

Aaron's POV (Point of View)

Riley came back with the antiseptic and the wet towels after a few minutes.

"All right, Aaron." he said. "This may sting a little."

He put the wet towels to the whiplashes on my back. It stung a bit, but after being accustomed to tremendous amounts of pain every day, I hardly felt anything. When he pulled the towels away, I saw just how much blood I had lost. I only gave it a glance because I was used to the sight of it, however, Riley was shaking his head at the sight of the blood-soaked towels.

"How Team Galactic could be this cruel to…anyone is just…sick and wrong. They have no respect for other life."

"You get used to it. They've done this for years to me." I sighed.

Riley dropped his towel when he heard me.

"Years?" he questioned.

"I kept track of the months using the moon and…I was there for least 36 full moons if not more." I answered.

"3 years…" He shook his head. "No one deserves that, human OR Pokémon."

"At least you care about me. Nobody else I've met during those 3 years ever did. My faith and my hope that I could be free one day were the only things I could rely on."

"I see." nodded Riley. He took the antiseptic and began to spray it onto my back.

The antiseptic stung, more than the wet towels, but it was tolerable.

"So Aaron." he began. "I hope you don't mind me asking but…how did you escape? I thought Team Galactic had some of the best security systems in Sinnoh."

I explained my escape to him in vivid detail. Everything from being strapped down to the table, to the explosion of the aura-transfer machine, to my get-away in the air ducts.

"…Wow. That's unbelievable." Riley said.

"I know. I'm just fortunate enough the thing exploded and that I got out in time. At this point though, they've definitely realized I escaped now. They're probably on the hunt for me." I muttered.

"Don't worry about it… For now, why don't we change the subject to something better?" offered Riley.

"I'm with you on that." I agreed.

"So…I have a friend coming over today." he mentioned.

"Was that who it was at the door? I heard the bell ring."

After I said that, Riley was strangely silent. I turned over and looked at him. He was sweating and noticeably nervous. I could sense it in his aura. I knew who it might have been.

"I only need 1 guess." I told him. "It was Dr. Anderson, right?"

"Yeah." he admitted.

"I knew it. It's only a matter of time before…"

"He won't."

I stared at Riley, dead in the eyes. He didn't falter.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "Because I don't know if I can trust humans again…and if you're just pulling my leg…"

"Aaron…I wouldn't let him. Experimentation on Pokémon is…is…just sick and wrong! For all the money in the world, I wouldn't hand you over to him." he told me.

I slowly nodded my head. "O…OK. I-I think I can try to trust you. F-For now, at least."

"That's good to hear. So, onto that other topic; I have a friend coming over today. I think you'll like her."

"I-I'm not so sure." I muttered. I remembered my previous past with a Team Galactic woman, and it wasn't a pretty one.

"I can cancel if you want. But, you know she has a Lucario, too…" he grinned.

"A-Another Lucario? I haven't seen another one beside me since…" I paused. The memories of that horrible night came flooding back.

_Flashback_

_"Mommy…Daddy…where are you?"_

_I was lost. Lost in the fire that flooded our valley. I ran through the valley looking for them._

_"Mommy! Daddy!" I cried to them. "What's happening?"_

_There was no answer._

_"Where are you?"_

_Silence. Throughout the entire valley._

_"Help me!"_

_After an eternity of searching, I came across their two lifeless bodies. Burnt to death by the fire…_

Riley took me back to reality.

"Aaron? Are you okay?"

"Huh? What?" I shouted, startled.

It took me a few seconds, but I regained my senses.

"What just happened?" I asked; a bit confused.

"I think you zoned out for a while there. Were you thinking of something?" he asked innocently, not knowing anything about my tragic past.

"No. I-It's nothing." I lied. I hated to lie, but it's not something I really wanted to remember.

"Well…if you say so…" muttered Riley uncertainly. "Just let me finish up with these cuts."

DING-DONG!

"Oh! I think that's her now." Riley set the antiseptic on the nightstand, and the towels on the ground and left to answer the front door.

_"Huh. I wonder why Riley's so excited about one girl coming over…"_

* * *

><p>Riley's POV (Point of View)<p>

"Have to make myself look presentable…"

I stood in front of the hallway mirror, combing my hair; which was kind of hard to do when your hair sticks up in spikes. I finished with my hair and set the brush down.

"Perfect." I said.

DING-DONG!

"Be there in a sec!"

I double-checked the mirror to make sure I looked good. My clothes and my features were flawless.

I briskly walked over to the front door, not wanting to keep Maylene waiting.

I peeked through the peep-hole to check for sure it was her, and indeed it was. She brought her Lucario with her; I could tell because he was standing next to her. Unfortunately for me, her Lucario hated my guts. I don't know why, but every time me and Maylene get together; her Lucario, nicknamed Lucas, always wants to KILL ME. It wasn't a guess either, he told me via telepathy.

But in the end, it's worth it for Maylene.

I unbolted the door and greeted her.

_"That short orange hair, her gorgeous skin, her killer blue eyes and that cute band-aid on her nose…sigh…she's perfect in every way." _I wondered dreamily.

"Hey Maylene." I grinned. "How are things for you?"

"Things are just great, Riley." she answered. "Come on, we'd better get going if we want to keep our breakfast reservations at the Vistas."

I sweatdropped. In the back of my head, I realized, _"Crap, I forgot about the reservations! But…I can't just leave Aaron here. What do I do?"_

"Riley?" she asked. "What's the hold-up?"

_"I think I should just come out with it."_

"Maylene, there's something I need to tell you." I confessed.

She gasped, and Lucas shot daggers in my eyes; and spoke in a strong voice telepathically,

_"If you hurt her, I swear to God, you'll wish you were never born."_

"You're not going to…propose or anything, right? This is just our third date…" whispered Maylene.

"WHAT?" I shouted. "Uh…no, I would never! Wait, no, what I mean is…"

And cue random gibberish. I'm pretty sure I spitted out nonsense for a minute and a half until Lucas interrupted,

_"And your point is…"_

"OH!" I realized. "Heh heh…sorry. Maylene, what I'm trying to say is that I need to take care of someone."

"Who?" Maylene asked. "You live by yourself."

"A-a friend." I answered, slightly hesitating.

"But…we had this planned for a month; it wasn't easy getting those reservations." she muttered.

"I-I'm really sorry, Maylene. I wish I could…but…I can't." I honestly confessed.

_"I shouldn't have expected better of you." _growled Lucas.

"All right, I understand." Maylene sighed. "Maybe we can reschedule sometime…"

She turned to leave and Lucas shot me an 'I knew you'd something like this' look.

_"Oh man, she's disappointed…I have to do something." _I realized.

"Wait."

Maylene turned and faced me along with Lucas, whose face practically screamed, 'You'd better have a **really **good reason for this.'

"What is it?" she asked.

I breathed in deeply and gathered my courage to speak to her…and to confront Lucas' demonic glare.

"Would you like to come in for lunch? I know my house is no fancy restaurant but…"

"It's all right. I'd love to." she smiled.

My eyes widened. _"That went surprisingly better than expected." _I thought in the back of my head.

_"Master, are you actually serious?" _Lucas asked. _"Or are you joking? Because I never really understood the human concept of 'humor'."_

"It isn't a joke, Lucas." Maylene told him.

Then she walked up to me. I began to sweat profusely, and it showed on the collared blue shirt I was wearing.

"I would be honored to dine in your humble abode, Riley." she said calmly…5 seconds later, she was bursting with laughter, rolling on the ground.

"Ahahah! Ahahaha! Ohhoohho…man, I can't believe I just said that." she chuckled.

I laughed heartily too, as I helped her back up.

"Yeah, that's a riot." I smiled.

A distance away, Lucas stood with his arms crossed, rolling his red eyes.

_"I will never understand humans…"_

* * *

><p>Third-Person POV<p>

Meanwhile…

"Curses! How the hell am I going to find that blasted Lucario? This is all Mars' fault…"

Dr. Anderson was pacing back and forth through his office; lit with fluorescent lights so intense, it could blind a person.

It turned out while Mars was running to get the fire extinguisher; she had accidently bumped into the 'RELEASE' switch for the table restraints.

He sat down at his desk, with his elbows on the stainless steel.

"I've checked every city from Veilstone to Canalave and STILL no sign of him! If I don't find him soon, Cyrus will have my head…" he muttered.

He pondered something to himself.

_"How could that Lucario take off the tracking device? It's nearly indestructible! Let me take another look at it."_

He opened a drawer attached to the bottom of the desk and pulled out a small metal anklet. On the cold steel was a Team Galactic emblem. Although the anklet was unlocked, it showed no sign of being forced open.

But he noticed something. Out of a long, thin slot, an object appeared to be sticking out. He pulled it out.

"A Team Galactic keycard? How…How did that Lucario get his damn hands this?" he hollered.

Realization hit him.

"I'm the only person who's been near him for the past few days, except for when Cyrus took him to the main lab but he was unconscious. Then that means…"

Dr. Anderson quickly checked his wallet, where he kept important items such as money…and Galactic keycards.

However, he was extremely surprised to discover his keycard was still in his wallet, safe and sound.

"If… my keycard is here…then…WHOSE DID HE USE?"

He examined the keycard again. There was nothing wrong with the front or back. However, there was mysteriously no ID number on it…or any sort of identification at all.

* * *

><p><em>Lucario © 2005 NintendoGame Freak_

_Riley © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Cyrus © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Maylene © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Commander Mars © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_Story and all other characters (in this chapter) belong to me._

EDIT: Thanks to all of you guys for reading! However, this story will be on hold for a little while. Not too long, a couple of weeks at most. Reasoning? I want to focus on my other two stories: Pokemon World Tour & Slaves and Soldiers. Expect these two to be the more updated ones for a while, go check them out! And R&R them too!


	5. Protector

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 5: Protector

Aaron's POV (Point of View)

* * *

><p><em>"…sigh…I can't understand it."<em>

I lay on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I had just finished counting the tiles.

_ "How did I escape? Who helped me? Out of every creature there, why did God choose to give me a second chance?"_

They were too many questions…and few answers to them.

_"Maybe…finally…I have a chance to live a life. To experience everything this world's got to offer. It's a miracle, and I can't waste another minute of it!"_

I leapt out of bed to see Riley, but then I heard the door knock.

"Aaron, can I come in?" came Riley's soft voice. "I have a guest I'd like you to meet."

_"Must be that girl Riley was talking about." I recalled._

I gulped."Sure."

Riley opened the door and came with the aforementioned guest. She actually looked…radically different than I expected. Perhaps it was because all the women I've seen at Team Galactic always had on these short, tight (and extremely revealing) uniforms, and I never saw a human female in anything else. She wasn't sexy, like the female Team Galactic members thought they were; but simply beautiful. But was she any different? Because once, a girl from Team Galactic performed… unspeakable… acts to me.

"Aaron, this is Maylene; my girl…er…friend…that's a girl." Riley stuttered.

Maylene giggled at Riley's stuttering, and came over to me. I was sweating nervously as she approached me; my brain only pulling up the worst-possible case scenario that could happen. I had a horrible flashback to one of my memories back at Team Galactic.

My words became jittery and shaky as they came out.

"W-W-What a-are you g-g-going to d-do t-to me?!" I yelled in panic. I didn't know this woman and was scared of her.

She turned out to be more scared of **me.** She froze, then backed away and looked as though she just saw a Ghost Pokémon.

Almost immediately, another Lucario jumped out in front of her and roared viciously,

_"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! Trying to scare my master like that?! I'm gonna murder you!"_

He charged towards me. I was scared out of my mind right now, not knowing what to do until Riley screamed,

"Hold it!"

He caught Maylene's and my attention, but the other Lucario was still charging towards me. I held my hands out in front of me, preparing to counterattack.

"Lucas, stop!" ordered Maylene.

The other Lucario, Lucas; didn't either hear the two or care. I was guessing the latter. I was ready to counter Lucas' attack, but in the blink of an eye, Riley held out his hands and two…Aura Waves…generated from the ground. They enclosed and restrained Lucas.

_"Hey!"_ he yelled. _"Let me go!"_

"H-How? How's it even possible?" I quietly whispered.

I slowly approached Riley, confused by what I had just witnessed.

"How on earth can you use aura? I've…never seen a human use the power of aura before."

He shrugged his shoulders. "It's a gift, I guess."

He then shot me down with a look that was concerned and confused, yet cold and furious at the same time.

"Why did you yell at Maylene like that?" he asked. His tone had a hint of anger to it, but he wasn't screaming.

Something- a force or power- inside me shattered into fragments of glass. I had disappointed the only person kind enough to take me in.

"I-I'm sorry. I was s-scared of her. Forgive me…" I began to tear. They quietly came down my cheeks and splashed onto the carpet.

"Scared of her…?" whispered Riley.

Maylene no longer looked scared of me, but her blue eyes showed sympathy. She walked up to me and…hugged me?

"Don't worry, Aaron. Why would I want to hurt you?" she asked.

"But…everyone I've…"

Riley interrupted me and saved me from an awkward conversation.

"Maylene…and Lucas." He released his bonds on Lucas, who had calmed down.

"There's something I need to talk about with you."

"And what that woman has done to me…" I whispered quietly.

"And…what?" Riley looked over to me. "What woman?"

"I never told you, did I?"

It took a bit of time to gather my courage, but I told them a terrifying fact I had, until now, told only one other person.

"It was… a beating. A very harsh brutal no-hold back brawl. This… woman… no, monster is more appropriate. She hated me. While the doctor and Cyrus simply viewed me as a tool, she saw me as something else. And she was the only woman I really interacted with while I was there. The doctor experimented on me. She… hated me. She thought I took too much attention away from the doctor. She told me that she wanted him for himself. I had the most vicious beating of my life that day. Bones were broken, blood was shed, and anger was unleashed."

"…" Riley was silent.

I continued. "The doctor had one saving grace. And only one. Obviously, when he came in the next day, he saw me battered and beaten. Normally, he wouldn't have questioned it, but I had broken bones. Galactic grunts weren't supposed to go that far. He asked me what happened. I told him. He allowed me a week to heal before he would continue experimentation… you know, I never saw that woman again… I guess it just left a very bad impression on me."

"…No wonder you were scared of me." Maylene realized.

Even the vicious Lucas seemed to calm down a bit after realizing what made him so horrified.

"No one should ever have to deal with that…" sighed Riley.

I nodded my head solemnly in agreement.

"And you won't ever will again."

I lifted my head and glanced at him.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.

Riley smiled. "If…you wanted to…, you could stay here…I mean, if you like, that is."

After a few seconds of silence, the meaning of what he had said finally hit me. My eyes began to tear and I was thinking it was too good to be true.

"But…why would you?" I inquired. "You don't have any reason to and..."

Riley stopped me from blabbing on.

"I don't NEED a reason to, Aaron; it's because I WANT to. I mean…locked up for years. You've missed out on a lot of stuff life has to offer…and I'd like the opportunity to show you what."

He smiled; showing his bright white teeth. It was a really different kind of smile than Team Galactic scientists and lackeys had. It was not…malicious…or evil at all. Riley's had an honest, happy vibe coming from it. It was that kind of smile you see when someone's gone away for a long trip and they come back to a loving, caring family full of them.

I smiled back, grateful for his kindness. I said two little, though very meaningful words back to him.

"Thank you."

"It's no problem."

Riley looked at the digital clock on the nightstand next to me.

"Hmm. It's almost 1. *sigh* Guess we're too late for those reservations. Maylene, again, I'm really…"

Maylene interrupted him. "Riley, don't sweat it. I completely understand. Besides, you said you had something to eat here, didn't you?"

Riley's face appeared to light up.

"Oh, that's right! I have some steaks in the freezer I bought a few days ago. I'm sure everyone would enjoy them."

I was curious. I had never experienced human or even Pokémon food. I wondered what they tasted like.

"Riley and I will heat up the steaks." Maylene stated. She turned towards me and Lucas.

"Why don't you two take the chance to get to know each other? Maybe you guys could become the best of friends." she smiled.

It was a truthful smile, just like Riley's. But, unfortunately, she didn't know just how wrong she was.

I forgot this the second she rubbed my head and scratched behind my ears.

_"Oh man, that feels SO good!" _I said happily to myself.

To my surprise, she didn't do the same with Lucas and left with Riley. I didn't bother to question her.

I sat on the bed, swinging my legs a bit; while Lucas took a cross-legged stance on the floor, meditating. I used to do that a bit back at Team Galactic. After the day was over, not only did it help me channel my aura and recover my energy, but it seriously helped with the anxiety I faced every day.

I tried to make small-talk with Lucas.

"We never properly introduced ourselves." I told him. "I'm…"

"Shut up." he answered harshly.

I sighed. "I'm trying to be nice and open up here. Could you at least show some respect?"

"You think I actually care?"

I was very puzzled by his behavior.

_"Why is he being like this? I never did anything to him."_

He continued, "If you think that both of you can just waltz in and take Maylene, you've got another thing coming. If you hurt her, I swear to God Almighty, you'll pay with your life."

I got off of the bed and sat down next to him.

"What makes you think that I would want to hurt her? That's the last thing I would ever want to do." I truthfully confessed.

Lucas sighed, "I'm sorry. I just get really concerned about her is all. I don't want anything bad happening to her. When you startled her, my protective instincts sorta kicked in. I would lay my life out for her in a heartbeat."

I grinned. "That is SOME level of dedication you have. You must really love her."

"More than just as a master." he whispered, barely audible.

My eyes widened, in curiosity and hesitance to ask him. Still, I kept urging. "What…do you mean by 'more than just as a master'?"

"*sigh* I…Man, I can't believe I'm telling this to a total stranger…but…"

"But…"

"I…I think I love her." Lucas confessed.

I smiled. "Well, of cour…"

Mid-sentence, the meaning of his words sunk in and when they were comprehensible, I felt like vomiting. I was disgusted, but more confused than anything.

I slowly began to speak again. "As a… mate?"

Lucas simply nodded silently.

I resisted the urge to throw up on what looked like an expensive rug of Riley's. "You…You realize that is wrong in at least 3 different ways, right?"

Lucas left his meditating position on the floor and stood up to face me at eye-level. "Yes…Biologically, morally and religiously." Lucas sighed. "I was raised all my life knowing that. And I never had this…intense emotion for her, would be the way to describe it, until Riley came along."

I kept quiet as he continued.

"I was so humiliated to tell her…and I didn't trust Riley, still don't; but I thought I could talk to another of my kind."

I seriously began contemplating what Lucas had said. After thinking it over, I came up with a possible theory.

"I'm not an expert on this kind of thing, but…" I shrugged.

"But what?" Lucas asked anxiously, with an evident tone of impatience and anger in his voice.

"I really think you just might be jealous of her." I told him honestly.

He crossed his arms and his gaze on me began to intensify; his blood-red eyes staring straight into my soul.

"And just in what the hell makes you think that?" he inquired angrily and sarcastically.

I ignored his tone as I answered his question. "Think about it. Maylene now has Riley in her life and you feel…left out, right?"

Lucas' gaze on me did not diminish as he replied, "Yes."

There was no emotion at all in his response. Neither anger or sadness, nor jealousy or hate.

He sat down on the bed next to me and spoke. I could feel his aura, formerly closed; now beginning to open up.

"I never… really had many friends besides Maylene." he admitted.

"Doesn't Maylene have other Pokémon?"

"Yes… but I don't really talk with them. I'm… not really good at socializing."

"I understand. I never got any chances to socialize at all, being trapped like a rat in a lab for… what, 3 years?" I tried to recall.

He looked at me, his gaze gone and replaced with a respectful look at me.

"You went through a lot, haven't you?"

I nodded. "I haven't even told you the whole story."

I quickly returned to the conversation at hand. "Anyway, talk to Maylene about this. She'll want to help you through this. And don't worry, you'll definitely find that special Pokémon eventually."

Lucas seemed to accept my support for him. He smiled with determination and said two words to me,

"Thank you."

* * *

><p><em>Lucario © 2005 NintendoGame Freak_

_ Riley © 2006 Nintendo/Game Freak_

_ Maylene © 2006 Nintendo/ Game Freak_

_ Story and all other characters (in this chapter) belong to me._


	6. The End of the Past

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 6: The End of the Past

Aaron's POV

Lucas and I were still in the guest room chatting, when Riley announced…

"Yo! Aaron! Lucas! Lunch is up!"

Both of us hopped off of the bed and, while I walked at a normal pace; Lucas ran like a marathon champion to the kitchen.

_"…Is steak really that good?" _I wondered.

Lucas wasted no time getting into the kitchen and seating himself in a chair next to Maylene. His tail wagged back and forth furiously in the space between the wood.

She turned around to see Lucas, and smiled.

"Glad to see you're prompt." she told him.

The kitchen was definitely a nice place. The dining table was in the center of the kitchen, on a blue rug. A beautiful type of tile (Riley told me later it was ceramic) coated the floor. On the right of the kitchen was his microwave, oven, and fridge; complimenting the faded blue of his kitchen walls. Sunlight poured through the window on the left side, shining down on the picturesque chrysanthemums on the simple oak table.

With three chairs occupied, I took the last remaining seat which was next to Riley and across from Lucas. Two extremely large grilled steaks lie on a metal platter. They looked and smelled delicious. Lucas was reaching out for a steak with his paw when Riley stopped him.

"Lucas, we have to say prayers first." Riley reminded/scolded.

Lucas' paw restricted back to his side and muttered, "Fine. But make it quick. I'm hungry."

All four of us joined hands (and paws). We closed our eyes and Riley began to pray.

"Heavenly Father, thank you for this day and the opportunity for us to get together. Help those less fortunate than us. But most importantly, thank you for helping Aaron through his time at Team Galactic and giving him a chance to be with us now. Amen."

We let go of each other's hands (and paws) as Riley began to cut the steak. His prayer reminded me of my escape…

_Flashback_

_It's hopeless…I'm gonna die._

_I reached my hand into my side pouch to pull out the picture of my parents to look at it one last time. But to my surprise, I felt something else in there besides the picture. It was rectangular and flat. I quickly withdrew the other item from my pocket._

_"A Team Galactic keycard?"_

_I flipped the card and saw the back. In a gold cursive font, it read: _

_'An answer to your prayers.'_

_"How'd this end up my pocket? I surely didn't put it in there… And who wrote this?"_

End Flashback

_"If I didn't grab that card from a member…" _I pondered. _"Then maybe He had something to do with it."_

I smiled as I knew this could finally be over. The pain, the suffering…over. I started to dig into my steak.

Riley began chatting it up with Maylene.

"Hey Maylene," he said as he was cutting his steak. "How are your other Pokémon in Veilstone doing?"

_"She has other Pokémon?" _

"They're fine." she answered as she finished cutting her steak and poured half a bottle of barbeque sauce on. "Meditite is off meditating in the gym and Machoke's training."

"Shouldn't you be concerned about someone catching them if they're alone?" Riley inquired.

"No worries. I gave them those special cards that say they're already owned by me. And I told them to stay aware for trainers."

She took a bite of her steak, and after swallowing it; continued. Her tone turned deadly serious.

"But if someone even THINKS about catching them, they'll have to answer to me. Painfully."

"Yeah." agreed Riley. "You never know what those jerk trainers will do to catch a good Pokémon."

"I know, right?"

_"I wonder… why does she care so much for her Pokémon? To go to such lengths to protect them? I thought Riley was the only one who did that."_

"Oh wait, that reminds me." said Lucas. "Did Maylene tell y'all about what happened on Route 214?"

"Don't think so." said Riley.

"Oh man, it's too hilarious!" laughed Maylene. "You tell it, Lucas."

"All right, there was this one time we were out practicing at Route 214, near Valor Lakefront." spoke Lucas.

"Yeah."

"Well, while we were there, this over-confident, arrogant excuse of a trainer comes along. I felt his presence before he saw us and hid in the bushes. I told Maylene to hide, too."

"And I had no idea what he was trying to do." claimed Maylene.

"So anyway, he's coming from Veilstone claiming, 'I'm the best Pokémon trainer in the universe! Nothing can stop me from beating the Elite Four! Nothing scares…' And then at this point, I leapt out of the bushes, turn to him and roared ferociously."

Riley picked up his glass and began to drink his water.

"I swear his face turned as white as a ghost! And he runs back in the opposite direction screaming 'Mommy!' at the top of his lungs like a 5-year-old girl! Oh, it was such a precious YouTube moment."

Riley, having not swallowed his water yet, spewed it out and doused Maylene and Lucas with water. He had taken a big drink, so Maylene and Lucas were practically drowning.

"Uhh…" was all he could say.

I think Riley was left feeling awkward from what I could tell from his aura. I had thought that Maylene and Lucas would be furious at him. I thought they would beat the crap out of him. But the thing I had least expected to happen happened.

All three of them look at each other with the weirdest grins and… laughed. Happily. I couldn't understand it why they weren't mad, but I began to laugh too.

_"It felt so great, to be happy again in such a long time. I thought this could finally be the end of my past…"_

_"Or so I thought."_

* * *

><p>Third-Person POV<p>

"Damn it. What am I going to do?" Cyrus muttered. He paced back and forth through his office, which, unlike Dr. Anderson's, was filled with blinding florescent lights.

He sat down at his desk and began to think about what Anderson had reported to him.

_"Let's see…" _he thought. _"He escaped from the premises during the explosion according to Test Subject L-25167's report. Anderson also told me that Lucario managed to get his hands on a keycard to take off the tracking device… yet nobody has reported theirs' missing."_

Cyrus was about to think about this matter through further, but Dr. Anderson coming into his office stopped his train of thought.

"Uh, *ahem* Master Cyrus, I have some, uh, important news." the doctor stuttered.

Cyrus gave him an ice-cold look that practically shouted to the doctor's face, _"For the sake of your life, it had better not be bad. Or else it's your head."_

"Well?" Cyrus demanded.

Dr. Anderson stood there stuttering for a minute, scared to death from his stare, and also nervous of saying the wrong thing.

This continued until Cyrus replied, "Sometime this year might be useful."

The doctor seemed to come to his senses and realized, "Oh, sorry for stuttering like that again, Cyrus."

Cyrus retained a vacant expression on his face.

"Anyway," Anderson continued. "I have some news regarding Lucario."

_"At least we have that much." _Cyrus replied in the back of his head.

"I have been able to narrow down what city he's in to Canalave."

"Canalave City?" Cyrus asked unsurely. "That's on the far left edge of Sinnoh. What makes you think he got THAT far?"

"He is a Lucario, sir. They have extraordinary stamina even when injured. That's why I and my colleagues conducted searches around all Sinnoh."

"Anything else of interest?" Cyrus questioned.

"Not at the moment, sir." the doctor reported.

"Good. Then you may leave."

"Thank you." the metal door slid behind Dr. Anderson as he left.

Cyrus knew his options. He could leave it to his scientists, but he wanted his final key to the ultimate Pokémon back ASAP.

"Looks like I'll have to check Canalave City out for myself…"

Aaron's POV

After lunch, Riley helped Maylene clean up the table and she also changed into a spare set of clothes Riley had. Lucas fortunately had lightened up a bit and we both decided to get some training in.

Riley's backyard was perfect for it. It wasn't massive, but had just enough room to comfortably practice.

"All right…" began Lucas. "Why don't we start with a race to stretch our legs?"

I nodded my head. "Yes, sir."

"First…wait… did you just say, 'sir'?"

"Oh." I realized. "That's force of habit back from…Team Galactic."

Saying 'Team Galactic' again brought back painful memories, so I tried to push the thoughts out of my head.

"Uhh…anyway…" Lucas resumed awkwardly. "First, we'll run to the left staying parallel to the house, then fence. Once we hit the plant bed in the corner of the fence, we'll zigzag through the trees at the back and at the top-right corner, cut through the yard back to here for 15 laps. That's about a mile; I've trained here before. Loser buys winner ice cream of choice at the Canalave Ice Cream Shop. Ready…set…"

I was briefly distracted by him for a few seconds because I wondered what ice cream was. I did not know the race even started until he was halfway through his first lap.

"Hey! Wait up!" I shouted. I quickly caught up to him and surpassed him. I counted my laps around and finished my last lap as he finished his 5th.

As he continued running, during the run I had accurately counted the seconds in my head (as I learned to do back at Team Galactic so I knew about how time was left to complete a race) and my total time was approximately 18.5 seconds. If I was back at the Galactic Training Quarters, it would have been half a second too long from the expected amount. I almost felt the electric shock course through my body.

A while later, Lucas finished his last lap around and began panting like a dog (well, technically speaking we ARE part dog).

Perhaps half a minute past before Lucas actually spoke.

"How…How…can you run like that?"

"Not that good, right?" I thought.

"Not that good? Are you kidding? Hell, I thought I was trying to outrun Suicune!"

He began to pant like crazy again and I began to concern over him.

"Do you need some water?"

"*pant* *pant* *pant* Yes, please."

I went inside, grabbed a water bottle and tossed it to him. He gulped it down as if he was a Pokémon stranded in a desert.

After drinking a liter of water in one sitting (I didn't even think that was possible) and patiently waiting for the replenishment, he began to talk again.

"Wow. I have NEVER seen anyone, human or non-human, run like that. That was…what…20 seconds for a mile?"

"Actually it was 18.5." I corrected.

"Still unbelievable." he smiled. "Come on, I owe you an ice cream."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © NintendoGame Freak_

_Story and my character Dr. James Anderson are © me._


	7. Investigation

Breaking the Chains

(Pokémon)

Chapter 7: Investigation

Aaron's POV

* * *

><p>Lucas and I headed inside to speak with Maylene and Riley who apparently were…<p>

"Yes! I win again! That makes it 7 wins in a row!" cheered Maylene.

"Not fair! That Level 100 Arceus you got shouldn't even count!"

"It's not my fault that I got it at Toys'R'Us and you had a business trip that week…" she said sweetly…and with an overly obvious tinge of sarcasm.

Riley gritted his teeth.

"You could've picked it up for me, I left my DS here, even politely requested you to, but nooooooooo…"

"Um…should I ask what's going on here?"

Both of the humans turned to Lucas and me.

"What were you doing?" I reiterated.

"Playing video games." Riley explained.

"And getting whooped hard." Maylene added.

"Let's do something else." Riley sighed. He turned to me.

"So what was it that you wanted to do, Aaron?" he asked me.

I was about to speak, but Lucas did it for me.

"We were thinking of heading out for ice cream, since I challenged Aaron to a race in your backyard and he won. He is damn fast! I swear to God, I was racing someone with the speed of Suicune!"

"That so, huh?"

"Well…it's…nothing, really." I muttered. I was always a modest Pokémon and never liked to think of myself too highly.

The words 'ice cream' somehow magically snapped Maylene's attention from her game back to the real world.

"Ice cream? Awesome, I just remembered! Today, the shop's supposed to get a shipment of ice cream from Castelia City! The best in the world!"

Lucas rolled his eyes while I looked over to Riley, who was chuckling over Maylene's behavior.

"I'm guessing she has a thing for ice cream?"

"That wouldn't be a bad guess." he grinned.

"You are such a 10-year-old sometimes…" groaned Lucas. It was more than obvious that he was less than pleased with Maylene as he stared down at her. "Is it so hard to act just 17 years older?"

"What? Aren't I allowed to have just a little fun?" she shrugged her shoulders. "Ah well. Can't be helped I guess…"

"I'm gonna wait in the car. My iPod's in there, so at least I've got something to do. You coming, Aaron?"

"Yeah…" I said as I walked him to this 'car'. "But…"

"But what?" he inquired.

"You seem to know enough about human contraptions and gadgets… that aren't torture devices…" I hastily added on. Bad memories tried to come back, but I quickly pushed them out. "So…What's an 'iPod'?"

He smirked. "The best invention since sliced bread. I'll show you."

As he grabbed a strange-looking ring with…oddly-shaped metal sticks on them, he shouted, "I'm grabbing the keys to get my iPod in the car!" into the air and I wasn't even sure if Riley or Maylene heard since there was getting ready to leave…that doesn't make sense, I mean, why would they have to get ready to leave, couldn't you just leave…humans and their weird habits.

Anyway…

Riley's shouting voice echoed the house, "Drive off with my Toyota Supra and you're a dead Pokémon!"

"I won't!" he answered back. "…Maybe!" he smirked again. What is with this guy and smirking…?

He and I left through the front door and headed towards this… 'car'.

As we reached there, I discovered that said car was… an intriguing device. It was a dark blue, matching Riley's choice of clothing. Its overall shape, from a Pidgey's eye view, was a rectangle. A large piece of glass was separating the outside from the inside. Similar pieces of glass covered the doors of the car. On the bottom of the car, it had four circular black… structures was the only word I knew to use. The doors also had handles for opening the car, which I tried pulling on. But it didn't open.

"Why won't it open?" I asked Lucas.

He looked at me with a glare that declared in my head, "You _really _don't know?"

But instead of actually uttering those actual words, he said, "It's locked. That was why I brought the keys."

"Ohhhhhh…" I felt like a complete and total idiot who knew nothing about the world… and I was.

He unlocked the car by putting in one of the many keys on the ring and turning it. As he stepped into the car and clicked a switch to unlock the other car doors, I asked him,

"So… cars look pretty fancy and all… but what do humans use them for?" I knew in advance it was a stupid question, and that any Pokémon who's even interacted with regular humans knew what they were used for, but I never met REGULAR humans before.

Without any hint of frustration or sarcasm (something I learned to recognize a LONG time ago), he explained, "Humans often use cars to get around places quicker. For example, if you were going from here to Veilstone City, where Maylene and I live, it would take most normal Lucarios, ones without your intense running ability about 3 days by running… non-stop. It would probably take you less time, though. But in a car, which goes a lot faster than humans and most Pokémon, it would take about 12 hours which is a lot less time. Put simply, humans use cars to save time."

My brain was slowly begin to sink the information in as I stepped into the car and sat down in one of the car seats in the back.

"So…" Lucas trailed off as he jumped into the back seat. "There's something I want to ask you. Something I wondered since you explained the whole 'I've been Team Galactic's lab rat all my life."

"Yeah?"

"If you don't mind me asking …How is it that you're a Lucario? I mean, a Lucario's normal method of evolution is via happiness, but it's more than obvious you WEREN'T happy, so…"

"Well, nobody really asked. Back when I was held captive there, even Team Galactic knew I wouldn't evolve by happiness. They needed me to evolve because a Lucario is significantly stronger than a Riolu, and they wanted to use me to power a Pokémon called 'Project Alpha'."

"And what is… 'Project Alpha', exactly?" Lucas inquired.

"Project Alpha is Team Galactic's plan to make the Ultimate Pokémon. In theory, they were to use a machine to transfer my aura to that of 'Alpha'. But the machine failed, and I made my escape."

"But how could they get around the 'evolving by happiness' rule?"

"That's… a whole other story. I sort of… well, I guess you would call it a 'forced evolution'." I said.

"Hmm… I never heard of evolution being forced on a Pokémon before."

"I'll elaborate. Team Galactic obviously knew I wouldn't evolve from happiness while held captive there. They tried a couple of serums to try to activate evolution, but nothing happened. As a Riolu, their tests and experimentation were excruciatingly hard to deal with. It would be slightly easier to confront as a Lucario so since the serums kept failing, I forced myself to evolve out of sheer will."

"…Wow. Testing… experimentation… forced evolution… I… guess I was a little bit too harsh on you initially. I suppose you want an apology at this point… but… I don't know… what words…" Lucas began to drone.

I really didn't need an apology from him (His stuttering words were enough of an effort to count). "Y-You know what? Let's just leave it here and you can show me this 'iPod' you were talking about."

He shrugged. "Glad to get off that subject."

He reached into the back pocket of the front passenger seat and pulled out a thin, black rectangle. And with a bitten apple on the back. So far, I didn't really see anything that made this 'the best invention since sliced bread'.

Lucas pressed a small button on the bottom of the device, turning it on. The screen flickered on and showed… a bitten apple, yet again. After that, a password screen popped on and Lucas quickly typed in a combination of numbers. He finally accessed a menu with all sorts of icons and choices.

"The miracle known as an 'iPod' is often used to access the internet, watch movies, and what they're most known for is storing thousands of songs."

I was a little skeptical. "How can something that tiny hold thousands of songs? Seems a little too Farfetch'd for me."

Lucas only grinned and pressed one of the icons on the menu. He was promptly brought to another menu that gave him the options of sorting his songs by song title, album, artist, or album by artist. He chose the first of the sorting options and came up with a list of songs sorted from A to Z. The number of total songs on the list was displayed at the top. 1,753 in all. He handed the small device off to me.

"Oh my word." I muttered.

"Yeah, and that's only 1/10 full." he chuckled.

I looked at the some of the songs on his iPod:

_Anthem of the Archeops – Shattering Scrafty_

_Burning in the Skies – Viridian Park_

_Ghost of Me – Darktri_

_Sandile Sky – Eon City_

"And that's just a few. Can I have it back now?"

I gave it back to Lucas as per his request and he stored the iPod in the small 'skin pouch' that Lucarios have. By now, Riley and Maylene were done getting ready and were walking towards the car. One thing both Lucas and I noticed was that Riley and Maylene were holding hands on their way here. Lucas decided to have fun with this.

"Ahh, how sweet of you, Riley." he taunted.

"What can I say?" Riley shrugged. "I just like her, plain and simple."

Lucas uttered some words I'd rather not repeat to you as Riley and Maylene unlocked and stepped in the car, Riley in the driver's seat and Maylene in the passenger's seat.

"Lucas, watch your mouth." warned Riley.

"You're not my master! You can't order me around!"

"Lucas, watch your mouth." ordered Maylene.

"Yes, master." he sighed.

All of us except for Lucas promptly buckled our seatbelts as Riley started the car.

"Lucas…" began Maylene sweetly. "Why don't you have your seatbelt on?"

"Don't need one. I'm in the back and I'm much hardier than you humans, no offense, Maylene. Plus, the strap just feels so… weird."

I moved my paw up and down the smooth surface of the seatbelt. It did feel somewhat awkward, but it definitely felt better than being strapped down to a table so I really didn't have any complaints.

"Remember last year, Lucas?" Maylene reminded him of some event unknown to me. "October 4th? We were driving back from Canalave and you were being a stubborn ass and didn't want to wear it?"

Lucas sweatdropped nervously. "Let's not bring back October 4th. Please. It's humiliating."

"You sure?" grinned Riley. "It's one heck of a tale."

The conservation certainly caught my ear. "Now, I'm curious." I told them.

"You don't need to know anything!" Maylene's Pokémon snapped at me. This must really not have been something good for him…

Maylene resumed her explanation. "I had to stop suddenly for a light…"

"La la la la la la la la, I'm not listening!" the other Lucario shouted loudly to prevent us from hearing her story.

I was actually interested in hearing Maylene's tale, so I used my paws to clamp down on Lucas's mouth.

Mmmmff! Mmmmmph!" he tried to shout and pry my hands off of his muzzle, but my grip was tight.

Riley and Maylene looked back to see me holding him with an iron grip.

"Continue." I urged her. Lucas began to fight hard to get free from my hands. "And quickly, please."

"And then Lucas went flying through the windshield and onto the street, and let's just say things quickly went downhill from there."

"He got run over?" I gasped. Realizing the brief loosening of my grip, he snapped his furry muzzle out of my hands.

He began gasping loudly for air. Perhaps I had gripped him a bit too tight…

"Yes, and I ended up in the hospital for a month! Bound to a bed, IV tubes, surgery… it was hell."

I rolled my eyes. _"And that was only a small taste of what was my world."_

"And all from an unbuckled seatbelt. You want to go through hell again, be my guest." she offered.

"I'll pass on the offer." He sighed as he put his seatbelt on.

"Smart choice." she smiled.

"Glad that's all settled." chuckled Riley. "And where would you like to go on this lovely day, Maylene?"

"The second-best ice cream shop in the entire world, please."

"All right, then. And with your request, my lovely lady, we're off!" grinned Riley as Maylene giggled. Lucas made a disgusting gagging noise.

Riley started the car and shifted and sort of nifty lever next to the letter 'D' and the vehicle started to accelerate. As we began to get off of the driveway, Lucas pushed down a switch to open the car window.

"Why on earth are you opening the window?"

"I think I'm going to vomit."

* * *

><p>Shortly after the car had left, a blue-haired man along with three other people walked up to the front door of Riley's house. His research and investigation around Sinnoh had led him to this location. Where his target was hiding. He initially knocked on the door politely.<p>

"Mr. Riley?" he requested. "May I speak with you?"

No response. Nothing, not even a whisper.

"Mr. Riley?" he asked again, with the same, bored monotonous voice.

Again, not a sound.

"Open up, Mr. Riley. I know who you're hiding and you will give him to me if you value your life."

Silence again.

"Break the door down." he commanded the three other strangers to do.

"No way! I'll break a nail!" shouted a feminine voice. The shout came from a red-haired Galactic Commander.

A purple haired woman next to her sighed. "Real women are not afraid to get their nails broken." she muttered.

"Oh boy…" sighed Cyrus. "Saturn, will you help me out here?"

Cyrus turned to a man in a blue hairdo different in style to his. "Don't look at me. I'm scrawny! You think I can break that door down?"

"I have to do everything myself." groaned Cyrus. He stood in front of the door and raised his leg.

POW!

It landed a long distance from the door across the room, splintered into hundreds of pieces.

"Wow." Commander Mars uttered. "For an old geezer, you certainly are stronger than I thought."

"Thank you, Mars. And if you call me an old geezer again, it's your head that will be hung on my wall."

"Meep." she whimpered.

"Search the premises." Cyrus ordered.

"Yes sir." They split up to search different parts of the house. Saturn tackled the bedrooms, Mars checked out the media room, and Jupiter began to investigate the basement.

"Hey!" Mars shouted.

"You find them?" asked Cyrus.

"No, but they have satellite TV and 250 channels! We only get cable!"

Cyrus groaned. _"Must… not… strangle… Mars…"_

Cyrus walked over to the kitchen to see if anything was of interest there. Nothing in the kitchen stood out. Dishes were put away neatly, table was cleaned up, and the kitchen counter was spotless.

He turned around to the living room where they had come in, to see Saturn looking behind the fireplace.

"Why would they be in the fireplace?" Cyrus asked the spiky-haired Commander.

"Sometimes, they are secret compartments hidden behind fireplaces. You know, for escaping or hiding out."

"That's only in the mov-"

CLICK!

Cyrus crouched down next to Saturn to look the fireplace. Part of the back had shifted.

"Only in the movies, huh?"

"Shut up and get back there."

"B-But I don't like the dark."

"Get back there or you'll be getting a salary cut."

Saturn whimpered as he began to crawl into the small passageway that the fireplace had given access to. Cyrus was curious to see what else was in there, so he followed behind.

The passageway was dark and the two had to feel their way around to get through. It was really creepy, too. Kind of like those secret corridors you see in movies.

"Cyrus… can we turn back? This place is scary. What if ghosts are here?" said a hyperventilating Saturn.

"Then they're going to consume your soul." he said sarcastically.

"AAAHHHHHH!" he shrieked in fear, startling Cyrus and causing him to wince from the sound.

Cyrus moaned. "…Thank you for damaging my hearing in my old age. NOW KEEP CRAWLING!"

"Y-Y-Yes sir."

The duo continued to crawl.

"…Sir?"

"Yes, Commander Saturn?"

"…Are… you afraid of anything? …L-Like the d-dark?"

"No Saturn, I do not have nyctophobia or any other phobias that I am currently aware of."

"…Oh… OK."

The two eventually reached the end of the corridor and a ladder could be seen up ahead.

"OH, THANK THE HEAVENS!" shouted Saturn in joy. "A LADDER! A WAY OUT!"

_"Note to self." _Cyrus thought. _"Discuss possible treatment plans with Commander Saturn for his nyctophobia…"_

Saturn was the first to starting climbing the ladder with Cyrus following behind him. Saturn felt around on the top of the corridor and felt a small movable surface. He pushed it out of the way and began to crawl out of the hole.

"OH SWEET FREEDOM!" Saturn shouted. "I KISS THE GROUND!"

"Saturn… just… don't." Cyrus told him as he climbed out. "Where are we?"

The two looked around and found themselves near… their base in Jubilife City?

"That's weird." Cyrus muttered.

"What's weird, sir?"

"The fact that Riley would have a passageway leading from his house to our base in Jubilife City speaks for itself."

"…I guess you have a point, sir. Now what?"

"Now we go back to Canalave and tell Mars and Jupiter what we found."

"Y-You m-mean…"

"Suck it up and get back in there, Saturn."

"Nooooooooooo!"

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo Game Freak_

Sorry for the long delay in updating Breaking the Chains for anyone who's been reading it. I've been busy with school and my other stories, but this is the first story I ever started and I'm not backing out of it.

P.S. - There's a little game I've hidden in the chapter. You know the music artists Lucas mentioned? They're allusions to other real-life artists. See if you can't figure them out. ;)

Author's Edit: Just my own thoughts rolling out here, but this is my first story I've ever written with a dedication to finish (A Super Smash Bros. Survivor was in the making as my first, but that got axed). It's pretty special to see my first story ever end up being my most popular (1,000 hits!) and being welcomed so well into the website. Thanks to all of you for reading & reviewing!


	8. Found

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 8: Found

* * *

><p>Aaron's POV<p>

"So, what kind of ice cream do you want?"

"Why are you letting me pick first?"

Maylene, Lucas, Riley, and I had arrived at the local ice cream shop just a small distance from the local library in Canalave City, which Maylene said had the best ice cream in the world "when it's shipped from Casteliacone, of course… otherwise, it's second best". Several people were lined up to get a taste at the imported ice cream straight from Castelia City.

"Because…"

Riley was interrupted by Lucas. "Because he's just being nice, and when Maylene gets up there, she takes forever and a day."

"I do not!"

Riley and Lucas both turned their gaze towards Maylene, as if to say 'You're either lying through your teeth or you're completely clueless'. The pink-haired fighter blushed embarrassingly.

"…Your order, sir?" asked the large thick-boned man behind the stall.

I turned back to face the man. I looked down at the selection of ice creams to choose. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, Rocky Road, cookie dough… there were so many to choose from and I didn't even know what they all tasted like, much less what ANY ice cream tasted like.

"Uhh…" I stood there for a few moments, keeping my eyes on the frozen confectioneries. "Umm, what would you recommend?" I questioned him.

"…Sir, I just sell this stuff. I'm not a taste-tester. Now pick one before I lose my patience."

"Fine." I looked at the frozen desserts and skimmed over the choices again. "Hmm… that one." I said pointing to a carton filled with a dark-brown colored ice cream with nuts and marshmallows in it.

"All right, one Rocky Road comin' up."

The man used a spherical scooper to grab the ice cream and then ask me, "Cup or cone?"

"Is there a difference?"

The man looked at me strangely. "Is there a difference?" he asked rhetorically. "What, have you never had ice cream before in your life?"

I told him straight up front, "Yes."

The man was obviously not expecting such a straight answer and he probably wasn't expecting a 'yes' without sharp sarcasm, either. He sighed and explained to me the difference between a cup and a cone, leaving me feeling a little stupid.

"Oh. Well, I'll take a cone then."

He grabbed a wafer cone behind him and plopped the Rocky Road ice cream down on it then handed it to me. I left the line and sat down at a nearby table so everyone behind me could move up.

Riley went up to the man.

"Hey, Mr.…" Riley stopped to look at the man's nametag to identify him.

"Mr. Riley," interrupted the man. "I serve you and your friends ice cream on almost a weekly basis, and you STILL can't remember my name?"

Riley sweatdropped. "Well…, heh heh. Sorry there, Mr. Stark."

The man known as Mr. Stark shrugged his shoulders. "It's no problem, Mr. Riley. After all, we've only seen each other almost every week for six months."

Riley was deathly silent after that.

"How awkward." spoke Maylene's Lucario with a smirk on his face. Yep, there was that smirk again, right on cue…

Mr. Stark brought Riley's attention back to the real world. "What will you have, Mr. Riley?"

"Oh! Right! The usual, Mr. Stark."

"OK, then. One scoop of double-chunk chocolate ice-cream coming up!"

Mr. Stark used his scooper to grab onto a very dark, harsh brown ice cream with many visible chocolate chunks in it. He tossed the spherical scoop into the air and neatly caught it in a wafer cone. Riley, Maylene, and I gave applause. Lucas just stood there, with his arms crossed rolling his eyes. Riley took his cone and went to sit at the same table as me.

Lucas walked up next, ahead of Maylene.

"Oh sure, let the lady go last…" she griped.

"Your order, sir?" Mr. Stark asked Lucas.

"Vanilla bean as usual, and don't bother with any of your fancy tricks, Thomas. I just want my ice-cream."

The man now unofficially identified as Thomas Stark nodded and scooped out a white ice-cream with what appeared to be tiny 'specks' in it. He placed it in a cup rather than a cone and handed it off to Lucas. He then promptly joined Riley and I at our table.

Maylene walked up to the stand and placed her order, strawberry.

I looked at Riley. "I still can't believe why you would let Maylene go last."

"You'll see." both Riley and Lucas sighed in union.

"Wait! Wait!" Maylene told the man at the stand. "Umm, how about cookie dough instead?" Mr. Stark sighed as he dropped the scooped strawberry and began to scoop the cookie dough.

"No, no. Hold on! Actually, I'd rather have chocolate chip." This time, Mr. Stark gritted his teeth as he placed the cookie dough back and grabbed the chocolate chip instead.

"Yeah… wait, never mind. I think I'd prefer…"

_And this went on for about another half an hour, giving me plenty of time to chat with Riley and Lucas and finish up our ice cream but causing everyone behind Maylene to shout loudly and gripe at her._

"Wait. I think I'll have…"

"MAKE UP YOUR MIND, WOMAN!" yelled everyone behind her, and even the ice cream man, Mr. Stark.

Apparently, that last shout caused Maylene to blow a fuse.

"I'M STILL CHOOSING!" she shouted back at the crowd. "NOW SHUT UP AND LET ME DECIDE BEFORE I KARATE CHOP YOUR HEAD OFF! Thank you."

Everyone in the crowd then took 3 giant steps back from Maylene, leaving enough room to let an elephant through. Even all of us were caught off our guard.

"Hmm… I have it now!"

"YES?" asked Mr. Stark with hatred and impatience evident in his voice.

"…Vanilla!"

Everybody in the room then promptly fainted.

Maylene groaned. "People today…" she grabbed her ice-cream, set her money on the counter, recalled Lucas' unconscious body using his Pokéball and left the stand.

* * *

><p><em>Meanwhile…<em>

"Stupid electrical cord!" How was I supposed to know it would catch on fire?"

All of the commanders of Team Galactic stood outside Riley's house… or what used to be Riley's house.

"Gee, really?" snarled a burnt-haired ticked off Commander Jupiter to Mars. "So, is drying your hair with the sink still running normally NOT dangerous? Smart idea using your hairdryer on high heat, too!"

"Pardon me if I want to look good!"

"Well, at least it's for the better that those documents regarding our crimes he had are destroyed, even if it was unintentional." noted Commander Saturn. "Still, we didn't have to accidently burn down Riley's entire house…"

"…And why do you care?" asked Cyrus.

"Umm… I don't. Never mind. Hope the poor sap has homeowner's insurance, though…"

"Now where can we look for Test Subject Lucar-"

"Commander Cyrus?" Mars interrupted.

"Yes, Mars?" he sighed with resent towards the woman. The normally emotionless man was about to lose it.

"Can we go get ice-cream? I'm hungry."

That proved to be the last straw for Cyrus. "ICE CREAM? HOW CAN YOU THINK OF ICE CREAM AT A TIME LIKE THIS? WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HUNTING FOR AN ESCAPEE AND ALL YOU CAN THINK OF IS ICE CREAM?"

"…Well, yes." she muttered.

"Then go get your damn ice cream." Cyrus said with no emotion this time.

"Yay." she left the group and headed off to their opposite direction, presumably to the famed ice-cream stand of Canalave City.

Saturn and Jupiter looked to their Commander, whose face spoke no emotion.

"…Sir?" wondered Saturn.

"Yes, Commander Saturn?"

"Are… you OK?"

"Yes, I actually feel much better now. Anger is such a blinding emotion…"

_"There he goes going off about emotions again…"_ whispered Jupiter.

Everyone's thoughts were interrupted as Cyrus' cell began to ring. He looked at the caller ID. "Mars…" Hesitantly, he pressed the 'answer' button and held the phone to his ear. "Cyrus speaking."

_"Hey, Cyrus… it's Mars here. I want to let you that…"_

"…That the flavor of ice-cream for the day is mystery meat?"

_"No. Well yes, but there's something else. I think I found who we've been looking for…"_

* * *

><p>Sorry for taking so long to update (and with a short chapter too). Something called 'real life' got in the way. Plus a Spanish project, and plus an English essay. Fun, right? Sorry for the short chapter, but enjoy it and I'll update as soon as I can!<p> 


	9. Waiting for the End

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 9: Waiting for the End

* * *

><p>My eyes were shut as I lay on the floor, still slowly drifting in and out of consciousness. The ground was cold… very cold. It was… a hauntingly familiar sort of cold, as if I had felt the cold of this surface before. The air of where I was chilling as well.<p>

My eyes still refused to open. I crumpled my body into a ball on the floor to try to warm myself. Cold. Cold. Have I been here before? I could not get the thought out of my head that I have once been here.

I held my paw to my forehead. I could feel a large bleeding gash on it. I winced in pain when I touched it. I began to think; why was I here? …Where is 'here', anyway? Who would take me to 'here', anyway? The only people that would want me back are…

…

…Oh no.

I finally managed to force my eyes open. What I saw is what I wished I would never see again. Yet there it was, right in front of my eyes. I could barely see it, but it was still visible.

"Wait… no." I whispered to myself softly. "I… I can't be back here… I-I can't… I shouldn't…"

I sighed as I crouched on my knees, looking around the place I knew so well but never wanted to see again.

My old holding cell.

"This… this can't be happening." I quietly wept. "Was it all a dream? Was getting out of here, meeting Riley, no more experimenting… was it all just some sort of magnificent illusionary dream?"

I crawled over to the familiar small opening hidden in a small alcove. I moved the stone covering the compartment and reached into it.

"It still has to be here, right?" I silently hoped.

I sighed in relief when I felt the Book still inside the place I had kept it for so long. Team Galactic must have never found this compartment while I was out of here. Either that or they found it and just didn't care. Whatever the case, I was immensely satisfied that I was holding the Book now. Now knowing it was safe, I decided to put it back in the compartment. I closed the cover on it and stood up slowly.

"Now what?" I asked myself. "Team Galactic still wants me for Project Alpha, obviously. I suppose it's time…"

"Ngggh."

"…Who is that? Riley, is that you?" The voice sounded like his, but I couldn't see him, as it had become night and my cell was nearly pitch black.

"W-Where am I?" the voice asked.

"Riley, it's me, Aaron." I told him, now knowing it was Riley.

"Aaron? Where are we? I can't see anything."

I sighed. I felt incredibly guilty, as it was my fault he was here in the first place. Even though I had found a home with him, Team Galactic wasn't going to hesitate to take me, and him, away from it.

"How are you?" I questioned him. "Are you beat up too badly?"

"Not really. I only have a bruise or two from probably being dragged here from the ice cream shop."

Riley paused for a few moments before he spoke to me again.

"Looks like they used a tranquilizer dart to make sure I stayed unconscious. Right now, I think I'm chained to the wall. That certainly isn't a good thing. Could be worse, I suppose."

I became quiet. _"Great." _I thought. _"He's chained to the wall. Why did I do this to him?"_

"…Aaron? You OK?"

"…I'm sorry, Riley."

"Sorry? For what, exactly? I don't think you really did anything…"

"I'm sorry you had to get caught up in all of this. It's my fault, honestly. I shouldn't have gotten you involved in this. You don't deserve this."

Riley was silent, absorbing what I had told him. He continued to let me speak.

"I just… It felt so great to be out of here. I was finally free. How I even escaped… it was either a fluke or a miracle. I thought I would never have to see this place again. Heh. That definitely didn't happen. I'm so sorry, Riley. You were the first human I had ever come to trust and I got you caught up in this. I don't know what else to say."

Tears quietly dropped from my eyes as Riley spoke up.

"You don't NEED to say anything else."

"…What do you mean?"

"Aaron, I understand what you've been going through. You needed someone, an owner… a family to belong to. Do you honestly think I would give up that easily? You truly think that I'd be angry at you for getting kidnapped when we were unconscious? Both of us were out cold; we were sitting ducks! I'm not mad at you, cross my heart. I gave you a home. We're family now and nothing can change that."

I smiled softly. "Thank you, Riley. It… it means a lot to me to hear you say that."

Then I sighed, remembering our current situation. "We're still stuck here, aren't we?"

Riley chuckled sheepishly. "Kinda…"

"What do we do? We're just really waiting for the end to come now."

"It doesn't look like you're chained. How about a game of charades?"

It was then I heard that oh-so-familiar sound. The sound of keys rattling. Someone was coming in, and I think I know who…

"How are you doing, Test Subject?"

It was none other than Dr. James Anderson. I should have expected this. He had already found out where I was earlier but he hadn't know I was there at the time. Of course, this fact didn't really matter much now.

I never wanted to have to see this man's face ever again. He already had inflicted enough damage for one lifetime.

I sighed. "Am I to guess that you have your whip with you?"

"No, actually. I won't really be needing that anymore, seeing what we're using you for…" The malicious doctor then looked further into the cell towards the other aura wielder. "Mr. Riley, it's a pleasure to see you again. It's a darned shame that we must meet in such deplorable conditions."

Riley remained quiet. It seemed that he had nothing to say to the scientist.

"I'm pretty sure I know what, or rather, who you are here for." I told him.

The doctor smirked. "Your guess probably isn't far off. Come along now, or else we'll have to do this the hard way."

I sighed. _"I really don't have much choice, do I? But I'm not dragging Riley into this; even if I have to go, he's getting out."_

"Under one condition."

The doctor laughed evilly. "Do you really think that you're in the position to bargain with me? Why should I listen?"

"Hear me out on this. I will come with you to my death, peacefully and with no fight under one condition. You let Riley out of here. He had nothing to do with this."

Riley gasped, but the sound was barely audible. He spoke up to talk to me about my choice. "Are you really sure about this, Aaron? There has to be some other way out…"

I smiled, if ever so slightly. "Don't worry about me, Riley. I'll be OK. Sooner or later, I would have to face this. You have a life outside of here; I'm not dying for just anything, you know."

"Hmm…" the doctor pondered. "Normally, I wouldn't listen… or even care… but we wouldn't really have any use for him after you're gone. All right. Think of this as your final request."

I then said gracious words to him that I thought I would never say.

"Thank you, sir."

Riley smiled, if just only a little, and dropped a tear from his eye. Dr. Anderson took me from my old holding cell without another word.

* * *

><p>I walked with the doctor through the unfortunately familiar hallways of the Team Galactic HQ building. The white walls and ceilings had become a distant memory within the last couple of days, but it was all coming back now. Last time I walked in here, I was pondering what they would use me for. Now I knew, and the time had finally come for me to accept my fate.<p>

Turns out God would have other plans.

* * *

><p>Dr. Anderson and I reached the main lab of Team Galactic; the lab where Project Alpha was being built. It was nearly complete, and now, they only needed the last piece of the puzzle, the final touch, and the ending sacrifice… me.<p>

_"Mom… Dad… It looks like I'll be joining you guys soon."_

The doctor scanned his keycard through the panel next to the metal door and it opened. We walked in.

This lab… it was still new to me. This was only my second time here. All other times I had been in Dr. Anderson's personal lab. All of that testing and training and experimenting was for one purpose, and one purpose only. It was to train me up tough enough, like a pig being fattened up for slaughter, so my aura would be a healthy, strong, and energetic one for Project Alpha.

I looked in the giant cylindrical tube on the other side of the wall. Inside it was an orange liquid, floating in it was a being. A being like nothing I had ever seen before.

The being itself was… beautiful actually. Its body figure was anthropomorphic, a lot like most bipedal Pokémon. Its head was a… jackal shape, much like mine. It had no mouth or nose to breathe (or possibly talk) out of. Its feet were flat and didn't look very different from a human's. But its body… it was the most angelic white you'd ever see. If it wasn't inside a giant tube suspended in water, I could have easily mistaken it for an angel.

"May I ask you something?"

The doctor sighed. "What is it? I just want to get this over with."

"Do I HAVE to be strapped down on a table? I mean, you've got me where you want me and I'm not fighting you. Could you at least do me the decency of letting me NOT be strapped down to a table in my final moments?"

The doctor sighed. "Fine, what could it hurt?"

I walked over to a chair right next to the lab table, a small, comfortable one. As I sat down, two people came in the main lab: Cyrus and…

"Riley? What are you doing here? I thought…"

"He… wanted to see you in your last moments." Cyrus explained, with an I-don't-care expression plastered on his face.

"I feel… as though I should at least be here for you." Riley told me.

"Wow… That's… great of you." My choice of words at the time was somewhat awkward.

Cyrus was holding Riley very firmly by the arm, to the point where it looked kinda painful for him. He definitely didn't want Riley trying to screw up his plans.

Riley sighed. "You really don't have any options left, do you?"

"Not really." I told him. The doctor was preparing to put the same equipment on me he had last time. He had the same three large blue wires attached to a suction cup prepared again. This time, there wasn't any way out.

Seeing the doctor reaching again for the knife to cut my chest open, I quickly decided to beat him to the punch. I used the sharp spike on the back of my hand to puncture my own chest. Was it painful? Yes, excruciatingly. But it beat the heck out of a knife with no anesthetic. After agonizingly hunting through my chest, I found my own heart. I ripped my chest opened slightly more to reveal my heart to the doctor.

I gasped heavily after that, trying to deal with the immense pain. It was more intense than anything else I had felt here, with perhaps the earlier exception of Dr. Anderson and I in his lab before my escape.

I managed to finally recollect myself. I turned over to the doctor who had an incredibly surprised expression on his face and I smirked as I still panted.

"Beat you to it, doc."

I looked over to Riley who seemed like he was about to throw up from the sight. Even Cyrus, who usually never shows visible emotion, appeared to be slightly disgusted. Anderson kept a straight, though surprised face.

"Well… guess I won't need the knife…" he muttered. He walked over to me with the aura draining device and enclosed it over my heart. I did not resist him.

I sighed. "Turn it on." I said with gritted teeth.

The doctor didn't hesitate to switch on the machine. Unlike last time, the machine whirred to life. The wires began to glow as well. As the machine ran, I could visibly see a blue semi-solid flow through the wires and into the beautiful being of the glass tube.

My aura. I was dying.

Riley attempted to break out of Cyrus' grip, but Cyrus was much stronger than one would assume him to be. He kept Riley from trying to save me.

"Let it go." I whispered to him. "I'm ready to leave now."

After several more attempts to break free of Cyrus' grip, he stopped. He only stood there, silently crying.

"Cyrus… May I have …ah …a few parting words with Riley?"

Cyrus shrugged his shoulders. "If you can get them out before you croak, go ahead. I don't really care."

"Thank you." I told him. I then turned to face Riley. "Riley, I have… a few words that I would like… to share… with you."

He stood up and faced me. He was silent as I continued.

"Riley, the first thing I want to say to say to you is… thank you. Thank you for everything. Thank you… for saving me. Thank you… for taking me in. Thank you… for showing me that not all humans are evil. You have changed me in a wonderful way and you have helped me realize what good there can be in the world."

I could feel my heartbeat slow down enormously as my aura left me.

"I don't have much time left on this earth. But don't worry about me; I'm going to a better place. Riley… thank you. You're the first person I… could ever… consider… a… true…"

"NO!" Riley yelled. With all of his might, Riley finally broke free of Cyrus' hold and ran over to Aaron. But it was too late. He was dead.

"No…"

Inside the test tube that held the magnificent being, the glass began to rattle. It rattled, it shook, it trembled, and it quivered until finally…

It shattered.

* * *

><p>Alpha's POV<p>

"Whoa!"

I fell out of the test tube and onto the floor of the laboratory. I coughed quite a bit to get the orange fluid that had been supplying me with life out of my lungs. Once the liquid was all out, I stood up slowly to get a better look at my surroundings.

Aside from me being in a laboratory, there were three other people and a Pokémon, a Lucario. Two of the people, I had seen plenty times before. I knew of my existence of an experiment, and I was aware that those two came in the lab many times before to check on my development.

But the other two, the other Pokémon and human… I never saw that human before but I had seen that Pokémon once during… I don't know what they were doing back then, but he had escaped. Now he was… dead. Did I do that? Am I responsible? Is it because of me that Pokémon is dead? So many questions…

I finally decided to ask one.

"Who am I?"

Cyrus stepped to me and began to explain about me. "You are Project Alpha and Team Galactic's greatest achievement so far. You were many grueling years into the making but it finally paid off. You have many powers given to you by the DNA of many different Pokémon. You have teleportation, super speed, super strength, psychic powers, the ability to…"

I didn't care so much as for what my powers were; I wanted to know WHY I was here. "Why did you create me?"

Cyrus smiled. "Together, we can rule the universe. With your great power and my excellent leadership, taking over the universe will be child's play."

I stopped to consider his offer for a moment. Universal conquest? Hmm… To be honest, I had no interest in ruling the universe. What would I do with it? I didn't need an entire universe. It seemed completely unnecessary to me.

"I'm sorry; I'm not interested."

Cyrus' jaw dropped. I guessed that after all of his hard work, he wasn't expecting 'no thanks' for an answer. I decided to switch the subject onto the Lucario and the other blue-haired human behind him.

"Who's that?"

"That's… nobody important." Cyrus told me grudgingly.

I walked over to them. "Excuse me, what's wrong here? Can I help?"

The human looked up to me. His eyes were stained with tears. "Y-You're Project Alpha… aren't you?"

"Yes… umm… if I may ask… who is this Lucario?"

"He's Aaron. My friend. He… he died to complete you."

"He died?" I stuttered. "I-I did that? So… it is my fault…"

Cyrus was losing his patience. "LOOK! THAT'S NO ONE IMPORTANT ALPHA, SO GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE AND WE CAN DISCUSS UNIVERSAL DOMINATION PLANS!"

I gritted my teeth and turned around to face the Galactic Boss. "It is important! You killed someone to create me! I… I shouldn't even be alive! I don't want to! Not if it means killing someone innocent!"

Cyrus looked shocked. After his shock wore off, his hands clenched into fists.

"YOU ARE GOING TO HELP ME RULE THE UNIVERSE AND THAT IS FINAL!"

I shattered the hard glass dome above the lab into tiny fragments with my mental powers. I grabbed Riley and the dead Lucario and began to fly up in the air.

Cyrus wasn't going to give up easily though. He grabbed a gun from his pocket and tried to shoot me down or at the least injure me. I hardly felt a scratch. As I flew away from the lab and looked at the startled Riley and the dead Lucario, I wondered,

"What do I do now?"

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © NintendoGame Freak_

Sorry to leave you guys waiting for so long, but my Internet was down since the 27th. I just got it back today. But I used the chance to try to refine my chapter into a good one.

P.S. - A very special guest will appear next chapter. I won't tell you who it is, but I'll give you a hint. He has a _very _similar backstory like Alpha's. That's all you're getting, but you should be able to figure it out...

EDIT: Hmm. I'm wondering if I just created a total rip-off of Mewtwo. I think I did. Darn it. Man, I'm going to have to try my best to distinguish him...


	10. Life is Sweeter on the Other Side

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 10: Life is Sweeter on the Other Side

Author's Note: Remember how I said at the beginning of the story that the religious references were subtle? Yeah, now I'm kinda turning it up to 11. From here on out, I'm officially screwing over subtlety and Christian elements will be much more obvious.

* * *

><p>Aaron's POV<p>

_"Where… am I?" _I asked myself.

I found myself on a magnificent stairway, one that only went straight up. The steps themselves were a pure white, and translucent. Looking down through them, I could see beautiful clouds below me. The staircase was somewhere high in the sky, but there were no handrails of any sort. Yet… I had no fear of falling.

_"I… DID die… right? …Yeah. Yeah, I did."_

I turned to my back, wondering if down was an option. Upon seeing no steps behind me, I quickly deduced 'no'. I looked back ahead of me.

"Well. Looks like there's only one way to go." I began my ascent up the stairway.

On my way up, I replayed in my mind what had happened before I arrived here. It was Team Galactic's lab… They… attached that thing to my heart.

A switch was thrown.

I remembered my last words to Riley. He was the only person I could ever consider a true friend.

Then I died.

Being here almost felt like… a dream. A wonderful dream that you would never want to wake from.

I continued my way upwards. I couldn't help but wonder how Riley was doing. Where was he? Did he escape Team Galactic? And what about that other creature… Project Alpha? My mind scrambled around these questions like a 5-year-old on a Hershey's Chocolate high. I eventually decided to discard the questions; at least until I got to the top, then maybe I could get some answers…

* * *

><p>I finally reached the top of the never-ending stairway. It felt like YEARS had passed before I got there, and I was a bit exhausted from the long journey up. Instead of wondering where I was, I stated,<p>

"You know, someone here REALLY needs to install an escalator."

"Actually, I've been trying to get onto the big man about that."

"Hmm?" I turned to the direction of the voice. The soothing, yet relaxed voice came from a holy being, dressed in the finest garbs. He sat on an (evidently comfy) recliner. His robes were pure white, a glowing, gorgeous white that didn't look like any shade of white I've ever seen on Earth. The being… sported a beautiful pair of wings which radiated an iridescent blue; more beautiful than any I knew on Earth from any bird Pokémon. Except maybe Ho-Oh's…

"Who are you?"

"Well, who do you think?" he asked in a joking, casual manner.

"An angel." I told him flat out.

"…And he caught the Herdier named Bingo." The angel stood up, and dusted off his robe.

"This is heaven, isn't it?"

"Yep."

I looked around the area, not finding much. The cloud which we were somehow standing on had very little to say about it.

"Wow. Well… umm… I didn't quite expect it to be so…" The last word refused to leave my mouth.

"Barren?" The angel finished for me. "Relax. There's more than you think to it."

"What do you mean?"

The angel chuckled. "Just follow me." He walked off, onto the cloud. I promptly went after.

Our walk on the cloud was… dull, to say the least. The cloud had been much longer than I initially thought it would be. All around us was just visible blue sky. The cloud's surface was certainly quite soothing on the feet, but it didn't do that much to ease the boring walk. I decided to make small talk with the angel.

"So…" I began. "Where… are we walking to, exactly?" The question had been on my mind for a while.

"We're walking to the Pearl Gates. You know the…"

"Yeah, I read about that in Revelation. But is heaven really like it says? With the streets of gold and that there are supposed to be a bunch of mansions?"

"…Mostly."

"What do you mean 'mostly'?"

"Hey, we wrote the good book over two thousand years ago. You don't expect heaven to stay exactly how it is for 2,000 years, do you? We've made a couple of renovations."

"Hmm. Point taken. How much farther is there to walk… uhh… I never got your name."

"Metatron. I hate to sound braggy, but I'm one of the Big Kahuna's top angels. I'm a scribe up here."

"I'm…"

"Aaron." the angel finished for me, surprising me. "Species: Lucario. Born to a family in the Green Valley. Captured by Team Galactic at a young age."

"How do you know all of that?"

Metatron laughed heartily. "You ask a LOT of questions, don't you? That's to be expected. Almost everyone here asks a LOT of questions about heaven, hell, God, life… and why my name sounds like something that came out of Transformers… the list never ends. But to answer your previous questions, we're right here."

I looked around. I was so busy in conversation with the angel that I didn't even notice that we had arrived. The Pearled Gates… no words could describe how beautiful they were. They gleamed with a glow that could outshine the sun. Even Palkia would be envious. Next to the gates was another angel, sitting on a chair looking like a secretary. In front of him was…

"A computer?" I stated with confusion. "I thought it was supposed to be the BOOK of life."

"Well, it WAS a book," the angel secretary said to me. "But after thousands of years and a lot of Christians… the Book got full and we had to move the list to a heaven-only accessible site. Gotta love modern technology."

"Yeah…" I uttered, still somewhat surprised that the heavens could adapt to modern technology.

"Now… name?"

"Aaron." I told him.

He glanced at me with a funny look on his face.

"Uhh… species?" he asked.

"…Wait. I thought that angels were supposed to know this stuff…"

"…All right! I don't play Pokémon much, OK? There's a lot of 'Mon fans up here, but I don't know zilch! OK?"

I stepped back, slightly nervous of the now hectic angel secretary. Metatron set his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry." he assured me. "Jim's new to this. He does this with EVERY Pokémon… and most animals. You're fine."

"Jim, he's of the Lucario species." Metatron told him. The angel promptly began the search for me on the computer.

The wait was definitely nerve-wrecking. I WAS probably on the list, but the simple notion of NOT being on there was terrifying. I crossed my fingers. Turns out I didn't need that extra luck.

"Yep. You're on here. All right, I'll open the gates for you."

A click was heard from Jim's computer. The Pearl Gates unlocked and they peeked open. I walked up to it, pushed it the rest of the way open, and went inside.

I marveled at the beauty that beheld my eyes. I don't… I don't know HOW I could possibly describe heaven after witnessing it. I can try, I suppose.

It was… absolutely wonderful. True to the good book, the streets were gold. FREAKIN'. GOLD. As I walked on the golden street, I observed my left and right sides. On the left were tall, majestic buildings, made from every mineral and gem possible. Jasper, sapphire, emerald, topaz, amethyst… you name it, and there was a building somewhere in the sacred city made from it. The colors collided flawlessly, and provided a shining rainbow of lights across the city.

On my right was a beautiful massive garden, with every flower from Earth in it… and some I was pretty sure that WEREN'T on Earth. Flowers made of diamonds and pearls… yeah, those aren't on Earth. The garden was also obviously open to the public, with mortals, angels, and Pokémon alike all in the gorgeous garden.

I ran into the garden, ahead of Metatron. I don't what it was, but some indescribable compelling force called me into it. I ran past the humans, past the angels, past the Pokémon, past the trees of gold and silver, past the chrysanthemums of ruby and sapphire, and past the roses of diamond and pearl, to a hill out into the distance. It stood out in the garden above the walls of the sacred city. On the hills were no heavenly flowers made from gems, but just regular orchids, roses, and chrysanthemums. The sun was rising in the distance.

_"This is finally it."_ I thought. _"I'm free."_

Then I fell back onto the flowers, with them assuring my safety and comfort. I laughed heartily, a laugh that never would have come from me on Earth. I looked up to the sky, which seemed to be exploding with the fire and passion of a thousand suns. Not even the Northern Lights could compare.

* * *

><p>After laying there for a while, marveling at the beauty of heaven's skies, I decided I might want to check out the rest of heaven. I pulled myself up and turned around. I came face to face with none other than…<p>

"Hi there, honey."

"Mom!"

In front of me was my mother, the beautiful Lucario who I had not seen since I was a Riolu.

"What? How? Who? When? Where? Why?" I blabbered. More gibberish came spurting out of my mouth. My mother only giggled innocently.

"Seeing dead relatives for the first time has that effect." she explained to me.

"You're telling me." I chuckled as I embraced her, something I hadn't done in a long time. "Speaking of other dead relatives, where's Dad?"

My Dad was not a Lucario, nor a Ditto (thank God), but a handsome Infernape who well known in the Green Valley for his famous martial arts skills. It's kinda funny. It wasn't my Mom who fell in love with him. It was the other way around; Dad fell head over heels in love with Mom. The proposal was hilarious, or so I'm told. Apparently Dad proposed to Mom, but he didn't have a ring with him, so Mom thought it was a joke. Cue Mom laughing and Dad embarrassingly explaining that he was serious.

Mom took my hand. "Your Dad's up at our house. Come on, he's going to be so thrilled that you're here."

I followed my mother through the confusing layout of the sacred city. I was going to need a map to get myself around here later. We passed by many services to the public. I hesitate to say 'shops' since there didn't seem to be a currency used in them. No Dollars, no Yen, no Euros… no currency whatsoever. Services seemed to be completely free. I assumed it would be because angels have vast amounts of trust with each other.

Eventually, we reached a suburban street with house of varying designs spread among it. Again, just like the flowers and surprisingly modern buildings of heaven, the houses were made from many different gems. My mother and I kept walking until we reached a house composed of diamonds and pearls. I wondered why they decided to live in a house of gems, but I disregarded the question. At the very least, it was darn pretty.

As we waltzed up to the front door, excitement soared through my veins. I was FINALLY going to get to see BOTH of my parents again. The last time… the last time I saw them, they had died from the fire in the Green Valley started up by Team Galactic.

But it didn't matter anymore. I will finally rejoin both of them.

The front door was, to my surprise, unlocked.

"Shouldn't you keep the front door locked?" I questioned my mother. "You know, for burglars and creeps at night?"

"Son, this is HEAVEN. Trust me, nobody breaks into homes and steals things up here. There's no point, either, since there's no currency up here."

We headed inside and into the main hallway of what would be my home.

"Marshall!" she shouted. "Guess who I brought!"

I heard a voice in the distance from upstairs. Grunts and groans were coming up from up there, as well.

"Is it Phoenix?" he shouted back. As he continued talking, his voice came closer and clearer. "Cause he's supposed to come over for that barbeque to-"

He stopped talking the second he laid his eyes on me.

"S-Son?" he stuttered, surprised by my appearance. "It is… I mean, is it really… it's you, isn't it Aaron?"

I ran up to him and tackled him, something I always did to him when I was a Riolu.

"Who else BUT your son can tackle you like that? What were you doing up there, anyway?"

"Ahh, training. You know me; I'm the kind of guy who always loves to battle."

"You always DID love to spar, Dad." I smiled at the fond memories that I had with my father. And now, I would have the chance to make new ones. "Hey, uhh… who's Phoenix?"

"A friend."

Just at that moment, the doorbell rang. My Mom opened the door and welcomed the guest inside.

"Phoenix! Glad to see you!"

"Likewise, Karen."

'Phoenix' turned out to be a Blaziken. Except… he had WINGS that defied the anatomy of your standard Blaziken. To his credit, they were absolutely beautiful wings. They were of the purest white and were smaller than, but still resembled, Metatron's. I've read of humans getting wings in heaven, but Blazikens? The question was inevitable.

My first words to him were, "Why do you have FREAKIN' WINGS?"

"Ahh. So you're Aaron. Your parents have told me a LOT of great things about you. Glad I finally get to meet you. As for the wings… you've got work your way up to get these babies. I call them Donatello and Leonardo. You'll need to perform plenty of good and righteous acts up here to earn them."

"…Ok then…"

"Why don't we discuss it over the barbeque?"

* * *

><p>An hour later, Phoenix, my parents, and I were all out on the patio, eating some of the most delicious steak I had ever tasted; it was even better than the one Riley cooked for me…<p>

Riley…

"Riley…" I said subconsciously without noticing.

Phoenix's eyes widened in curiosity. "Marshall." he said. "You never told me anything about a Riley…"

"I don't know a Riley." My father then turned to me, now also curious about my statement. "Son, who are you talking about?"

This also caught my mother's attention, now turning to me wondering who 'Riley' was.

"Son," she said soothingly. "Who's Riley?"

I then explained to them what had happened to me after their death over the last few days of my life back on Earth.

"So let me get this straight…" said my dad. "After we died in that fire, YOU got kidnapped by Team Galactic?"

"Yeah."

"For 3 years?"

"I think so… it was kinda hard to keep track of all of the days…"

"And then they wanted your aura for a Project Alpha? That's how you died?"

"In the end, but not initially. The first time, the machine screwed up and went kaput. I used that chance to get out, but the sedative they gave me wore me down quickly. Fortunately, a human named Riley found me and brought me to his house… I'm really thankful for him. He showed me that not all humans were evil and corrupt."

"But you're still here." Phoenix pointed out. "So, you still died."

"They kidnapped me again, and successfully used it on me that time. But I didn't give them the satisfaction of dragging me to my death. I went peacefully."

My dad smiled. "I NEVER knew you had that much guts, son."

"I'm darn impressed, too." Phoenix admitted. "Still… I wonder whatever happened to that 'Project Alpha' you mentioned…"

"Yeah…" I muttered. "I still wonder what happened to Alpha… and Riley."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Sorry for making you guys wait for… a month for an actual update. Don't worry; I've got a hold on where I want the story to go now. Again, thank you Matthais123, Tanon, Aurora and Aura Blue, and Aura Guardian Kimi, for the awesome ideas. I couldn't have gotten back on track without you guys!

A/N: Metatron is an actual angel (a heavenly scribe) that does NOT appear in the Bible, but is often mentioned in Judaism and Christian mythology. Why the heck not?

FUN FACT! The situation with Aaron's parents getting married... is exactly how my parents were. It was freaking hilarious. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.


	11. Newfound Freedom

Breaking the Chains

A/N: After I presented Alpha in a 1st-person view in the 9th chapter, I changed my mind and will be presenting his portions of the story in 3rd-person. Aaron's segments will now be the only ones in 1st-person.

Chapter 11: Newfound Freedom

* * *

><p>Riley and Alpha flew away from the Team Galactic Base at a supersonic speed, with the winds rushing past Riley's face quickly. He clutched tightly onto Aaron's deceased body due to his fear of heights.<p>

"Aw man! There goes my hat…" he muttered to himself as the winds cruelly stole his hat. "A-Alpha? Could you slow down a bit? I'm getting nauseous from this height…"

The newly-created Pokémon did not seem to hear him; he simply wanted to get as far away from Team Galactic as possible.

"ALPHA!" Riley yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice finally ruling over the fierce winds.

Alpha, finally hearing Riley over the winds, slowed down and came to a stand-still hover in the air.

"Yes?"

Riley looked nervously over Alpha's side and to down below. The duo's heads were, quite literally, in the clouds and Riley could easily see the peak of Mt. Coronet. The drastic height made his head dizzy.

"C-Could you… uhh… go down? I-I don't handle heights very well."

"…OK then."

Alpha slowly began to descend down back to the earth as Riley clutched onto Aaron with his left arm and Alpha's back with his right. Eventually, the two touched down at Iron Island, so they wouldn't arouse any suspicion. Once they hit the shore of Iron Island, Riley was so ecstatic to be back on land that he could've kissed the ground.

But he didn't. Cause that would be gross.

He hopped off of Alpha's back and onto the hard stone of the island. Carrying Aaron's body, he still seemed unsure what to do. He leaned against a large stone on the shore of the island, holding Aaron's body. Alpha walked over to Riley and leaned his body against the same rock.

"So… he died… so I could live." Alpha said as he began to take in the full effects of Aaron's death.

"Well… in a nutshell, yes."

"…What are we going to do?" Alpha wondered.

This caught Riley by surprise. He hadn't expected Alpha to show so much… concern for Aaron. "I don't get it." he muttered. "Why do you care so much?"

"I told you; I shouldn't be alive. By all standards, I shouldn't be here right now, talking to you. He died to complete me. His life for mine."

"What do you propose we do? I mean… I don't think there's anything we can do now. We can't go back to Team Galactic HQ; they're probably already beginning the hunt for us."

"…True." Alpha admitted. "Maybe… maybe a Revive?"

Riley shook his head. "Not possible. Revives only bring unconscious Pokémon. It does nothing if they're dead. No Full Restore or Max Revive could help us here. …But…"

"Yeah?"

"There are legends, just legends, I could be right or wrong, but there are legends of a Pokémon in Sinnoh mythology so powerful that it helped create the Pokémon universe. They call it Arceus. Maybe it did, maybe it didn't… but maybe we could find Arceus and have it bring Aaron back to life."

"Wait. It? Don't most Pokémon have a gender?" Alpha noted.

"I don't know if 'it' is male or female." shrugged an uncertain Riley. He walked away from the rock with his back facing Alpha. "People really aren't sure. But… if it does exist… then we have a shot."

"OK… find Arceus. How hard could that be?"

"Well… I don't know that much about Sinnoh mythology. Cynthia, the Sinnoh Champion, is the expert on that. We should find her. If anyone knows how to find Arceus, it would be Cynthia. The first thing we need to do is get off of this island and get to Celestic Town, where she lives."

"OK then." Alpha sighed, looking at Aaron's now cold body in Riley's arms. "Damn it. Why did he have to die for me?"

"It's one of those things that you don't see coming, Alpha. You couldn't have done anything to stop it." Riley comforted the genetic Pokémon.

"I suppose…" he mumbled. "But now, we need to find a way off this island without anyone getting suspicious."

"…You're built to have lots of powers, right?" Riley realized.

"Well… yeah, I guess."

"One of them has to help us off this island. The ferry doesn't run this late at night either…" Riley muttered, looking at the full moon that was out tonight. "Teleportation?"

"I don't know… but it's worth a shot. Grab onto my paw." Riley grasped onto the white Lucario's paw, feeling the convincingly soft paw pad of a normal Lucario. Alpha closed his eyes and tried to hone teleportation, focusing on it and the destination, Canalave City. The white instead of black mask-like appendages hovered as he continued to focus.

* * *

><p>A worker at the mines of Iron Island began to walk back to his small and comfortable house on the island. He made a good profit harvesting and selling the iron ore that came from the aptly-named island, but he never needed much to be happy. He came in dangerously close proximity of Riley and Alpha, but never noticed them until…<p>

"What's that weird sound?" he wondered, picking up a sound something like powerful winds rushing, giving the brief impression of a hurricane. He looked to where Riley and Alpha were.

They weren't there anymore.

* * *

><p>Riley and Alpha reappeared in the outskirts of Canalave City, on Route 218. Both Riley and Alpha seemed to be dazed and dizzy from the teleportation, with Riley clutching his throbbing head.<p>

"My head…" he groaned. "I need an aspirin. Or a hammer to break my leg to get my mind off of my head."

Alpha wasn't holding up so well, either. He stumbled around trying to walk to Canalave City, but was still too dazed. "Guess that's one thing I need to work on." He leaned against a tree to balance himself.

Riley chuckled. "Well, the so-called flawless Pokémon has flaws after all."

Alpha looked back at Riley's direction. "Mind you, I'M not the one who called myself flawless and perfect."

"I'll give you that much. As long as we're here, let's stop by my house. Before we leave for Celestic Town, we should stock up on supplies. Wait. Where's Aaron?" he asked, concerned.

"I stored him in a kind of… virtual realm."

"Virtual realm?" wondered Riley. "You mean the Reverse World? I hope you don't; Cynthia's told me about that realm before…"

"No. His body's perfectly safe there, trust me. I would think that you'd get tired of carrying his body around."

"…'K then." he said. Still dizzy, it took much effort for him to begin his walk back to Canalave City. Alpha followed.

* * *

><p>It wasn't too far of a walk. Sure, they encountered several Bidoof and Budew on the way, but neither of them even NEEDED powers to deal with such low-level 'Mon. Without wanting to get arrested on animal abuse, Riley shoved them aside with his feet. They continued until they reached the route gate to Canalave City. Without thinking of Alpha's exposure, they both casually walked in to find the gate attendant staring at Alpha in complete awe.<p>

"Wow, Mr. Riley! I never knew you had such a unique Pokémon!" the short brown-haired lady smiled.

Riley sweatdropped, only now realizing his foolhardy decision. "U-Umm.. yeah. Unique." he muttered sheepishly.

"Looks like a Lucario. Is it a shiny?"

"Yeah." he lied. "A shiny. Now I hate to be rude, but we really need to be on our way. We have something very… important to take care of."

"All right." she said cheerfully. She handed a small slip of paper into Riley's pocket. "Call me sometime."

"…Sure." he lied farther. He and Alpha rushed out of the route gate and into Canalave City. Both of them maneuvered themselves to an alley way close to the gate entrance and took some cover.

"That was close." Alpha muttered.

"I'll say. We need a way to hide you before someone else gets suspicious." Riley, peeking out of the alley way, happened to notice that they were close to a Pokémart.

"Could you… stay here for a second?" he requested.

"…I don't know what you have in mind, but all right…"

Riley walked out of the alley way and made his way to the blue building with several dollars in hand. He came back out holding a red and white sphere structured for containing Pokémon. It's more commonly known as the Pokéball. The blue-suited man made his way back to Alpha.

"You're going to contain me in THAT?" Alpha muttered, unsure of Riley. "I mean, after what you just saw me go through?"

"I figured you'd be uncomfortable with Pokéballs." Riley sighed. "But don't worry about it, it doesn't hurt."

"And how would you know?" Alpha snarked.

"I've… been in one before."

"How did THAT happen?"

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

_"Darn it, Lucas!" Maylene shouted as her Lucario ran at top-speed away from her and around the Veilstone Gym, with a mortified expression on his face. "So help me God, you are going to the veterinarian's office if it is the LAST THING I DO!"_

_"You can't take me!" he shouted back. "You can't take me alive!"_

_Maylene chased her Lucario around the Gym desperately, trying to get him to come to the vet's office with his Pokéball in her hand. The veterinarian was one of Lucas' few, but critical weaknesses._

_Poles were knocked over, little kids got injured, and they broke the only TV set in the Gym. That last one got the most attention…_

_Riley had come in, pacing back and forth nervously, trying to work up the courage to ask Maylene out on a first date. He was so concentrated on his pacing, that he hadn't noticed her and Lucas coming at him very rapidly…_

_"Oof!" the trio collided together._

_Lucas' Pokéball went flying up into the air, out of Maylene's hand and tapped Riley gently on the head. The Pokéball opened; a red light came out of it, and transformed Riley into a state of energy, then took him into the Pokéball._

_"Ow. Man, that smarts. Hey, where am I?" he wondered. "And why does this place have posters of me scratched out and ripped in shreds?"_

_Outside the Pokéball…_

_"Ugh. At least I finally got you, Lucas…" she groaned, feeling the vibration of the Pokéball._

_"I'm right here." he announced. Maylene looked up to see her Lucario glaring down at her._

_"Wait. You're supposed to be in the… Then who did I…"_

_"Hey, anyone out there?" Riley yelled._

_"Congratulations." smiled a sarcastic Lucas. "You just caught James Van Der Douchebag."_

_End flashback_

* * *

><p>"…He called you 'James Van Der Douchebag'?"<p>

"Yes, if you can actually believe it. And that's also how I came to know that he's planning to kill me someday."

"…Somewhat extreme. But you're sure these things are safe?"

"Positive."

"And you're NOT going to keep me in there for days at a time?"

"I would never."

"And you won't-"

"Alpha!"

"Geez! I just want to be sure! …Well… OK then, if you say so." he sighed. "Throw it at me."

Riley gently tossed the Pokéball at Alpha, who despite the fact that he was a genetic Pokémon, was sucked into the ball. As he made no attempt to fight, the ball shook once… twice… thrice (yes, thrice IS a word!)…

…CLICK!

Riley picked up the ball, with the red and white sphere vibrating anxiously.

"Relax." Riley said soothingly. "I'll let you out once we get close to my house."

Riley, with Pokéball in hand, continued to walk along at a peaceful stride, blissfully unaware of the current status of his house…

* * *

><p>He continued to walk throughout the city, greeting the people of Canalave heartily, as if his mysterious kidnapping never happened. He passed by many of the shops, including the plaza with the ice cream parlor where he was captured. He eventually came within a two-block radius of his house, and decided that releasing Alpha would be all right. He emerged from the Pokéball's red light.<p>

"Thank you, it was getting… stuffy in there."

"But it's not as bad as I told you, is it?"

"Well… no, actually." Alpha admitted. "It wasn't that bad; it was sort of… cozy, to be honest."

"See, I told you. Now let's just get to my house and…"

"Is that it? That black ash and hunks of brick on the ground?"

"Black ash?" Riley wondered. "What are you…?"

Then he actually SAW his house. Or what was left of it, anyway. Black ash and hunks of brick were scattered on the burnt foundation. His window frames were burnt to a crisp and the glass was shattered. Everything was either fried like burnt steak, or just not there anymore. All of this could only evoke one response from Riley:

"WHAT HAPPENED TO MY HOUSE?"

* * *

><p>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak

Poor Riley, his house got burnt down. Pity him, he needs your pity.

"I don't need your pity!"

On another note, it took me a month to update this story. Yeah, school work and all of that stuff. And I'm working on an English Transcendentalism Project. If you don't know what that means, LUCKY YOU.

Probably won't update until after Christmas, so… have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or whatever the heck it is you guys celebrate.


	12. Truth

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 12: Truth

* * *

><p>"So… Phoenix, that's your name, right?"<p>

I, along with and the rest of his family continued to eat on the barbeque, with me just having finished answering the awkward topic about the last few days of my life.

The winged Blaziken looked towards me.

"Yeah?" he said, with steak still in his mouth.

"Do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I just met you and I kinda just explained my life story to you, so…"

Phoenix shrugged, and then swallowed the rest of his steak. "I don't mind; it only seems fair. Fire away."

"How did you get to know my parents? From what I can remember, I don't think you guys ever met each other when you were alive."

"There's truth in that. We never knew each other when we were alive. Plus, I died WAY before they did. Actually, I died back in '81. We came to know each other when your parents died two decades later. I gave them a personal tour. I STILL won't forget the time Marshall freaked out over meeting the big guy. Everyone does to an extent, but Marshall…"

"We promised never to speak of that again; why do you INSIST on bringing it up?"

"Because it's FUN. You spill the wine all over Him, His angels, and let's not forget how ticked off Peter was…"

"It never happened! It never happened!" Marshall kept denying until the bitter end.

Ignoring the humiliation my father was feeling, I continued to question Phoenix to satisfy my curiosity. "What was your life like on Earth?"

Phoenix set his elbows down on the table and began to think back. "Well…" he muttered. "My life wasn't outstanding, by any measures. Pretty average for a Pokémon, no abuse or neglect story and I had a really good trainer… I think he's still on Earth, maybe in his 40's?"

Phoenix continued on with his story. "I died pretty shortly after I evolved into a Blaziken. Wasn't the evolution, it was something that happened after it. Both of us, me and my trainer Stephen made the stupid mistake of trying to challenge Rayquaza on Sky Pillar. Things… didn't go very well. He survived but… Rayquaza knocked me off and I fell down the massive tower. Needless to say, I died on impact with the ground. That's my life in a nutshell."

"Well… certainly less remarkable than mine." I muttered to myself.

"Been up here for two decades and I've called it home since. Heaven's definitely a nice place to live. You got your church services every Sunday, no stress or job to worry about, no currency... and everybody just knows and trusts each other. It's great."

"It's getting pretty late." my mother Karen noticed, watching the sun go down. "Perhaps we should all hit the sack."

"Yeah." said Phoenix. "My wife's gonna kill me if I don't get home soon."

"But we're already dead." my father said to him.

"Well, then I'll be dead a second time!" Phoenix chuckled. He walked off to the front door. "See you guys tomorrow."

"Yeah…" I smiled. I walked out with him and looked to the sky. Heaven's skies were exploding in color… like a nuclear explosion, but a pink and orange beautiful one.

"This… this place is amazing. It's over." I thought to myself. "It's all finally over. No more pain, no more torture, no more experiments… no more. But…" I slowly realized. "What if Riley tries to revive me? I… don't want to go back to Earth. Not after this. If only I had some way to…"

Phoenix turned towards me. "Were you saying something, Aaron?"

"Well, kinda. You… know all the details about how I died, right?"

"Of course."

"But… I think Riley might try to revive me. And the thing is… I'm happy up here. I'm free from all of it. All the pain, all the hurt… I like heaven. He might try to revive me with the same machine that killed me… or even get Arceus' power… but I want to stay up here. I feel like I'm being kinda selfish…"

Phoenix set his claw on my shoulder. "Believe me, you're not the only one who feels like that. When people and Pokémon die and come here… they NEVER want to leave. Because it's so PERFECT compared to Earth."

"But how do I let him know that? If he revives me… then I have to leave. Can angels… go down to Earth?"

"Well… sorta. Anyone can descend down to Earth, but they're invisible to everyone. They can't be heard, either. The only way mortals can know if they are there is to feel their presence."

"Does that mean I can tell him?"

"Hmm… I'll help you get down to Earth and we'll see what we can do. Come with me."

He walked off onto the streets and back to the gates where I had entered heaven. Curiously, I followed.

* * *

><p>We ended up back where I had first entered heaven, but now a night was setting over the skies. It was such a fantastic view; you could see the stars and an observant eye could identify the constellations. We descended down the steps that I came up to enter heaven.<p>

"This is where I came into heaven." I told him. He chuckled and said to me, "This is where everyone's afterlife begins, well, beings of the righteous sort anyway. Everyone who's in here, barring the angels and the big guy Himself, came up those steps just like you did."

"So, why DID you lead me here? Is this where we descend to Earth?"

"Yes. All you need to do is jump."

I looked at him as if he had just told me to go swimming with Carvanhas. "Jump? Are you serious?"

"Yes, I expect you to jump. Have you ever heard the expression 'a leap of faith'? That applies here."

"Well…"

"Oh hold on, I've got something… well someone… I want to give to you before you head down." In his claws, he held an Egg and handed it off to me.

"Who's in here?"

"The parents of this Egg told me that a Riolu is in here."

"But… why would you want me to take it down to Earth? It's already perfect up here."

"That's true, but… it's a Riolu that was killed before it even hatched. It was an attack in…"

"…the Green Valley?" I finished for him.

"…That's where you're from, isn't it?" Phoenix seemed to realize.

I nodded. Indeed, the Green Valley was the homeland I had only known for about a week before Team Galactic took over the place. They had set out to capture as many Pokémon as they could from the Valley. Unfortunately for them, that number had been hampered when one of the Team Galactic members set the Valley on fire. They had killed more Pokémon than they took captive. The Riolu Egg must have been one of those killed Pokémon.

"Do you know HOW the fire started anyway?" I asked Phoenix. I wanted to know how the entirety of my life got messed up.

"Yeah, I was already dead and up here when that fire happened. A lot of us saw that there were four Team Galactic Commanders. The Commander with short red hair and a short grayish dress set the fire."

"She… she did?" I muttered to myself slowly. I knew Mars was technically 'evil' but she didn't seem to be on that despicable of a level.

"By complete accident. Somehow, her broken flashlight lit the tail of a sleeping Chatot on fire and… things went downhill." Phoenix added, completely changing my line of thinking.

"The fire…" I slowly said. "The fire that killed my parents, this Riolu, the entire Valley, and complete screwed up my life… you mean to tell me that was a complete ACCIDENT?" I yelled out the last word harshly.

I couldn't believe it. I knew my life had been both screwed up and short, but I always thought that fire was intentionally started. The messed up 3 years of my life was just a cruel twist of fate.

"I know you're angry. A lot of people would be." he told me.

"That would be… somewhat of an understatement."

"But everything happens for a reason, Aaron. A lot of people think God doesn't intervene with earthly relations, but it's quite the opposite. You often hear of these medical miracles where someone simply shouldn't have survived. And then you have good fortune striking a man against all odds when he and his family were on the streets. And then you have us… you know, before we died. There are all kinds of people, animals, and Pokémon, willing to do the right thing and help each other out, even when things get tough. God acts more in mortals' lives than you could ever believe. But He doesn't meddle too much, and still lets the bad stuff happen. Otherwise, He would have too much control over our lives. God wants us to follow Him because we chose to, not because we were forced to."

Slowly, I began to realize what he said held significance to it. It took a while for that much philosophy to sink into my head, but it seemed… right. What he said just… clicked together and explained WHY my life turned out the way it did. When I was captured, I needed something to hold on to. The idea of never being alone… it was my escape for those 3 years. It explained WHY I was more emotionally sensitive, yet spiritually strong. And it also explained WHY I met Riley.

Riley… I wonder…

"…Do you think it's…OK if Riley has this Egg?"

Phoenix smiled. "That's exactly who I had in mind."

"…So I still have to jump, right?"

"Yep."

"This isn't a trick or anything? I'm not going to die, right?"

"…" Phoenix remained silent.

"Oh wait, that's right I forgot, we're already dead. Well if you say so, Phoenix…"

Nervously and with some hesitation, I stepped off of the last stair and into the vast open sky.

* * *

><p>"Damn it. DAMN IT, WHY?"<p>

Cyrus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Anderson were all in the break room, wondering how on Earth their ultimate project could get away from them. After his psychotic shouting, Cyrus quickly regained his cool and calm composure. Saturn was pacing back and forth the room, wondering where they went wrong. Jupiter was too busy drinking her coffee to really care that much, and Mars was pouting… as usual. None of them were incredibly phased by what happened, baring Anderson, who was close to mad.

"Hmm." Saturn muttered. ""Cyrus, you're the leader. What do YOU propose we do?"

"Honestly…" Cyrus said. "I've got a better idea. We won't even need Project Alpha anymore."

Everyone looked at him in surprise. Did Cyrus really just say that they WEREN'T going to go after Project Alpha? Maybe they misheard him?

"After he escaped, I've given it some thought." he said calmly. "A different project. One that will not just allow us to take over the world, but one that will put Pokémon GODS at our command. You've heard of the Lake Trio, Azelf, Mesprit, and Uxie, right? We extract the jewels from their foreheads, and create a chain that will allow us to enslave the rulers of time and space, Dialga and Palkia. With them enslaved, we don't risk having them disobey us when we have the command over them."

"Not bad." said Saturn.

"I like it." agreed Jupiter.

"Meh." muttered Mars.

"Are you out of your mind, Cyrus?"

Cyrus turned to the owner of the person who called him out on crazy, Dr. Anderson. Instead of getting mad at him, he only questioned him coolly.

"What makes you believe I'm 'out of my mind'?"

"You're going to give up on Project Alpha just like that? You're willing to throw all that money and time that I pitched down the drain? Cyrus, I've worked on this for my entire lifetime and I'm NOT giving it up!" He tossed the coffee he was holding to the wall, shattering the mug.

Jupiter and Saturn were somewhat alarmed by Anderson's reaction, and a crazed look in his eyes. Cyrus remained calm as he continued to elaborate to Dr. Anderson.

"I've got all the details figured out; it'll be perfect. Plus, if we go hunting for Alpha, it would cost too many finances and time. I already know what we can do, and it'll play out perfectly."

"You're mad!" Anderson shouted. "You're crazy! You're insane for letting such a magnificent specimen get away!"

"I beg to differ…" Saturn muttered to himself.

"Oh yeah?" Anderson shouted back to Saturn, slowly going off of the deep end. "Well, why don't you just have a nice cup of SHUT THE HELL UP?"

Saturn slowly backed away from Anderson, getting understandably creeped out.

Cyrus turned to Dr. Anderson. "Doctor," he addressed him. "You do NOT treat my co-workers like that. If you don't calm down…"

"CALM! I'M PLENTY CALM!" he shouted, obviously not calm. "YOU PEOPLE ARE JUST SO STUPID TO GIVE UP LIKE THAT AND SWITCH TO ANOTHER PLAN! I'VE SPENT MY ENTIRE LIFE DEDICATED TO THIS PROJECT! YOU IDIOTS ARE JUST WILLING TO GIVE THAT ALL UP?"

"Doctor…" Saturn started again.

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Anderson punched Saturn in the head as hard as he could, now in an uncontrollable rage. Saturn's head got bruised and his mouth began to bleed. Jupiter seemed alarmed and quickly tended to him as Mars began to take a nap. Cyrus turned to Anderson, internally mad but not showing it.

"That does it, Anderson. I will not stand for assault of a co-worker. You are fired."

"FINE!" he yelled again at the top of his lungs. "THAT'S DANDY! WELL, GUESS WHAT? I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T NEED ANY OF YOU! I WILL GET PROJECT ALPHA MYSELF AND HAVE THE ENTIRE WORLD TO MYSELF!"

Cyrus didn't seem fazed by his insane shouting in the slightest. "You may go to your office and collect your stuff. Go to the Galactic Gym and pick up any Pokémon you may have there."

Anderson snatched the prototype plans for Project Alpha and walked out the door, this time in an eerie calm. Once he left the room, Jupiter turned to Cyrus.

"Don't you think we should do something about him? I mean, the Doctor?"

"No." Cyrus stated flatly. "He's too insane to think rationally now. This will inevitably cause him to fail since he cannot think his actions through. He will bring himself down. This is exactly why we must have a world run by strict logic and without emotions. They just get in the way…"

* * *

><p>"Damn them. Damn them all." Anderson growled to himself, walking off to his office. He'd show them. He didn't need them anyway, not when he already had a brainwashed Charizard and Tyranitar working for him.<p>

He opened the door to his office, fumbling with the key slightly. Eventually, he got inside and summoned both of his faithful Pokémon. They walked up to him, patiently waiting for his command.

_"Those Dark Balls worked perfectly." _he thought to himself. _"5 years, and they STILL haven't broken through the hold. And those two trainers still never found their precious Pokémon."_

"Charizard! Tyranitar!"

The two Pokémon looked at him, awaiting his next words.

"…We have a rogue project to go after."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Yes, 12th Chapter done! Also, it's the first update from me of 2012! Whoo! (Oh yeah, and apparently the world's supposed to end on December 21! XP)

Also... note to those who thought Mewtwo was coming in... due to the different path I've taken with the story, he may or may not come in. It just depends on how the story goes.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter and again, R&R!


	13. Angels' Descent

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 13: Angels' Descent

* * *

><p>"Aaron! Open your eyes! You're flying!"<p>

When he said that, I noticed something was amiss. For one, I couldn't feel anything below my feet, yet I didn't continue to fall.

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Ahead of me was the most beautiful pink sky I had ever seen. Well, the only pink sky I've ever seen…

Noticing that I wasn't falling, I looked below me. My feet, and indeed my entire body, were somehow hovering in midair.

"Wait, how is this possible?" I asked the Blaziken, fluttering his wings next to me.

"You're an ANGEL now, Aaron. Angels can do almost anything."

"Almost?"

"Well, there is some rule about angels can't get drunk on Sundays, but Pokémon can't have alcohol anyway!" he laughed.

I laughed with him. Laughing felt really good. After years of having no reason to laugh, it… felt great to do that.

I flew around the heavenly skies, masterfully maneuvering my body through the clouds and over the city of Heaven. Words… couldn't describe how free I felt. Nothing… nothing could take me away now. Nothing could hurt me. And nothing could stop me.

Laughing joyfully above the city, some of the people down below waved up to me. Smiling, I waved back, even to my mother and father who were taking a day in the town. They were a bit too busy embracing each other to notice me, but I didn't mind so much. I liked seeing my parents happy, something I hadn't seen in a long time.

Flying back to where I left Phoenix, he was still there waiting for me.

"You seem to be enjoying yourself." he said, grinning.

"Yeah… haven't felt like that in… ever. Felt kind of awesome, actually."

"Glad you like flying."

"Yeah, but now what do we do?" I asked him.

"Well, you see this egg in my hands, err… claws?" Phoenix corrected himself.

Looking at his arms, I saw a green egg he was holding. Earlier, the sight of it had slipped past my eyes. The egg seems pretty jumpy and excited, with Phoenix holding onto it tightly.

"Uh-huh."

"We were talking about Riley earlier. We both pretty much agreed that Riley would be a great caretaker. The poor thing never even knew life on Earth, and to be honest, I really think that Pokémon should have the chance to live life on Earth before they come here. Make a difference, if you know what I mean."

Phoenix began to fly out to the distance, presumably towards Earth. I followed him, also telling him my thoughts.

"I understand. Still, I hope the Riolu in here will get to make a bigger difference than I did."

"You already might have helped make one." he told me.

"You're kidding me. Unless you call being captured and tortured for 3 years to activate a science experiment 'making a difference'." I shrugged.

"Let me finish. Your escape from Team Galactic… it might have helped more people and Pokémon than you know."

"How could it? As far as I know, Team Galactic's operations are held top-secrets. No one knows what goes in those walls except for the people and Pokémon inside them. In fact, I was really surprised Riley even knew what was truly going on in there. He said he didn't have enough proof to convict them."

"Exactly. He didn't have proof before you came along. You came along and gave him visual evidence that something WAS going on in there."

"But I'm DEAD now. His visual proof is gone. He never even took a photo of me."

Phoenix smiled. "Not quite." He pulled out a digital camera out from under his wings, ready to take a picture. "Now, don't forget to smile."

"Wait, what are you talking…"

*CLICK*

Phoenix looked at the photo generated on the camera's digital screen, frowning. "Aaron, I told you to smile."

"Why are you doing this? My scars are gone. Taking a picture now wouldn't do anything if we could get it back to Earth."

"Just give me one smile, and then I'll show you what I mean."

Shrugging my shoulders, I decided to go along with Phoenix and simply smiled for the camera.

*CLICK*

"Now come on over here." he ordered. Hovering over to him, I peered at the screen of the digital camera. What was portrayed on the camera didn't match how I currently looked.

I was still standing all right, and still smiling… but that was the only thing the same. On the picture taken, some of my large and graphic scars were still open. Blood seeped out of the wounds and some of it was dripping in mid-air. Some of the scars were closed up and healed, barring a puncture in my chest. The metal anklet that I was able to take off when I escaped Team Galactic was still gone. My smile greatly contrasted with the graphic injuries I had in the photo.

"How… what… why…?" I wasn't able to form a complete sentence to fully express my thought.

"This is a normal camera, right? Your average run-of-the-mill camera you could buy at a Pokémon Center?"

"Yeah… I don't see what you're getting at."

"A lot of things work differently in heaven."

"I noticed. The flying thing kinda clued me in." I informed the winged Blaziken.

"I… well; your dad really, found out that cameras are wonky in heaven."

"Nice choice of adjective." I grinned.

"Thank you. Anyway, when your dad tried to take a picture of me, we both noticed the same thing you did. My hypothesis is that since cameras are made in a normal realm, they would only work in a normal realm."

I nodded my head, understanding where he was coming from. "And heaven isn't exactly your everyday realm."

"Exactly. The picture your dad took of me… how I looked in the picture was how I appeared as I was dying… in the 90s."

"Really? 'Cause… I look the same way in that photo." Looking at my lacerations, they were the same ones on Earth...

"Wait… that puncture… that's the same one I gave myself maybe 10 minutes before I died!"

"I noticed the same thing. The picture of me had my body in shattered segments lining the Sky Pillar. For… some reason, the camera seems to take a picture of how you last looked on Earth."

I thought about it for a minute. "Maybe… maybe it's because that since the camera is an Earthly object, it can only take the last photo of how you were in the normal realm?" It was a guess, but it was really the only thing I could think of.

"That… makes sense." Phoenix said. "In a weird, sort of convoluted way, it makes sense."

"I guess… hey, how much farther until we reach Earth anyway?"

"…We're here."

* * *

><p>I was too engrossed with my conversation with Phoenix to notice that we had arrived. We were at the last place I had died… Team Galactic Laboratories. We were in a hallway somewhere inside the main building.<p>

"Uh… what… what are we doing here?" I asked the Blaziken. "Someone's going to see us!"

Right on cue, one of the Team Galactic Commanders came by. Specifically, it was that Commander with the blue spiky hair, Saturn. I thought I was a goner…

…But he didn't notice me. I could see myself, and him, but Saturn had just acted like I was totally invisible. He walked right through me and continued his way, griping…

"That damn crazy doctor… he's gone over the deep end… uhh, my head still hurts; I'm gonna get an aspirin…"

He walked around the corner, disappearing from my sight.

"Um… what was that? He acted like he didn't see me."

"Because he couldn't see you."

"But I'm right here. Why wouldn't he see me?"

Phoenix glanced at me, rolling his eyes. "…Didn't I already…?"

"Oh whoops. Kinda forgot the whole 'angels can't be seen or heard thing'. Makes sense, I suppose. Though, it still raises the question… if we're invisible, how ARE we going to communicate with Riley?" I wondered.

"Remember what I say about certain people being able to feel the presence of angels? I'm pretty darn sure that Riley's one of those people."

"Fair enough. But what Saturn just said… that doctor… something tells me that's Anderson, but I can't help but wonder what he means by 'gone off the deep end'."

"Doesn't seem like it can be a good thing." Phoenix muttered.

"Before we find Riley, I think we should search around here for some more clues as to what Anderson could be cooking up. If we can't be seen or heard, then we should be good."

"That might be a good idea. Should we split up or…"

"No, I don't think splitting up's a good idea; we have no way to contact each other. Let's just stick together."

Phoenix nodded, agreeing with me. From where we were standing, we traveled north up the hallway. I took the lead and suggested we go to Anderson's office. As we moved our way through the maze-like hallways, Phoenix noted,

"You really seem to know your way around here."

"Yeah…" I muttered. "I think I know it a little TOO well."

After a bit of walking, we ended up reaching Anderson's office, with the door closed and noise coming from the other side.

"We should be careful." I told him. "We don't want him to…"

Phoenix stuck out a claw, pointing to the halo above his head. "Angels…"

I chuckled sheepishly. "Oh right. Still new to this whole angel thing."

I walked up to the door and couldn't get it to open. "It's locked." I told him. "We're not going to get in this way."

Phoenix, simply smirking, began to walk towards the wall.

"What are you doing? You can't just walk through…"

Apparently, the Blaziken proved me wronged and walked through the wall with the greatest of ease. As I stood there, jaw open, Phoenix poked only his head through the wall, telling me,

"Come on, try it. Walking through walls is a good pastime."

"Ok then…" Trusting Phoenix, I began to walk to the wall, noticing it getting closer and closer. Finally, I reached the wall and stepped through it. Surprised, I continued all the way through and to the other side.

"See?" he said. "Piece of cake."

Turning my head to the side, I saw the doc talking with two Pokémon, a Charizard and a Tyranitar, giving them orders.

"Quiet, let's listen on what they're saying." Phoenix, eager to listen in on the conversation too, stopped talking as we both began to eavesdrop.

* * *

><p>"Charizard… Tyranitar…" the doctor addressed them. Both of the Pokémon looked at their master with determination in their eyes, ready for whatever orders he would give them.<p>

"I'm VERY sure that you're aware of Alpha's escape."

Silently, the two 'Mon nodded.

"I have devoted my entire LIFE to his existence! He was supposed to help ME take over Sinnoh! And those idiots just want to throw it all away! It wasn't… Nnrgh!" Anderson groaned.

He sighed again. "Anyway… I'm not giving up so easily. Tonight, you two, my loyal friends, will assist me in bringing him back here."

Anderson walked over to his desk and pulled out a spherical ball that was very black and mechanical. He clutched it tightly as he continued speaking to his Pokémon.

"He… He's going to pay. Alpha is going to get it so much worse than Aaron did."

My eyes widened. This was the first time the doctor had ever acknowledged my true name. It was the first name he didn't refer to me as a test subject.

"Project Alpha… he was mine… I… am NOT letting him escape. After strengthening that Lucario's Aura for years, I finally got my life's dream… But that's enough. Come. Now."

At that moment, he left his office and the two Pokémon followed him.

Phoenix confronted me, saying, "Wow. It really looks like he went off the deep end, doesn't it?"

"Yeah… I never did get to meet this Project Alpha he was researching me for…"

"…You angry?" Phoenix asked me. "I know I would. Being held for years in a laboratory to extract your power for some sort of ultimate Pokémon… I know I'd be angry."

"Well… yes and no, to be honest. I am angry for all the pain and… other things I don't prefer to remember that happened to me. All for this project I've kept hearing of. It's enough to want to murder him. And yet… it's not like he could stop it from happening. I haven't met him, but I still don't think he even intended for this to happen. Makes me wonder where he is now…"

"…There's one way to find out."

I smiled, understanding what Phoenix meant. I knew what we had to do next.

"Let's find Riley."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Yay, update! After… almost… two… months. I apologize for taking so long. I've been focusing on my other stories and schoolwork, but this is my first story and I'm intent to finishing it!


	14. Second Chances

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 14: Second Chances

* * *

><p>"My house…"<p>

Alpha and Riley still stood in front of Riley's home… well, what it used to be anyways.

"This is most unfortunate." Alpha told him. "Did you, by chance, purchase homeowner's insurance?"

Riley stood there, very flustered. "I… never really got around to it… wait, how would you even know what homeowner's insurance IS? You just came out of a test tube!"

"…I don't know, actually." Alpha thought for a second. "Could be the result of genetic engineering."

"Sure." Riley rolled his eyes. "Genetic engineering is how you know about homeowner's insurance. Why would you even need to know that?"

"From what I've heard around me during development, they said that it would be useful to have when Mars is around."

"And where's my car? Didn't I…?"

"…"

The sound of a palm hitting a forehead could be heard within a 200 foot radius.

"Right. Local ice cream shop. In the nice part of town. Probably got stolen. It was a good car, too."

"Hmm. Sorry about that." grunted Alpha. "But back to what we originally came here for… finding Arceus. Do you know anybody who we could stay with as we form a plan?"

Out of hearing range, Riley ran up to the house, trying to find anything salvageable. "Where's the fire department when you need them most?" he grumbled, searching through the scorched stuff. Still hunting, he was surprised to come across…

"W-What? H-How on Earth… is my Wii absolutely untouched? In a fire, I kinda expected that to be the first to go." he wondered.

Alpha walked up to the console and picked it up. "Hmm. Interesting object. It's called a 'Wii'? Sounds slightly phallic… however, it appears to be made up of some kind of indestructible substance that the company must have created. I dub thee Nintendium."

"Nintendium?" Riley stared at the angelic-looking Lucario.

"Uh-huh."

"You've gotta be joking me."

"Alas, I am not."

Riley sighed. "If I had seen this coming, I would've coated my whole house with the stuff… Hold on, Riley. Focus. What else can I salvage?"

He went into what used to be his room and started looking for any memorabilia that survived.

"I wonder how this fire happened anyways… arson, maybe?"

He quickly come across a scorched scrapbook that has (or used to have) pictures of him, Maylene, and the often jealous Lucas. He flipped through the pages, discovering a few of them intact.

"Maylene…" he muttered. "…Hey, that's it!"

Pulling out his cell phone, he pushed 2 to call Maylene, having her number on speed dial.

*ring*

"Come on…"

*ring*

"Pick up, pick up, pick up…"

*ring*

*click*

"Hello?"

"Oh Maylene, thank goodness; I need to talk to-"

"Uh, well Riley, I'm kinda tied up at the moment."

"With what?" asked Riley, noting a lot of noise in the background. "And what's going on there?"

Maylene sighed. "I'm at the Veilstone Game Corner; Dad's gone and gambled with his welfare money… again. Right now, Lucas is trying to claw him away from the slot machines…"

"Come ON, old man! LET… GO!" Lucas shouted, sinking his claws into Maylene's father and pulling with all of his strength.

"No, come on please! I can win this! I know I can! I CAN WIN THIS!"

"They're stirring up a lot of chaos…" Maylene groaned, looking at the spectators. "Can you please call back later?"

"I would if it wasn't so important."

More straining and shouting could be heard on the other line. Someone pounding against something hard was heard. And then crunching. "Oh great, Dad just threw Lucas against one of the slot machines. Now I've gotta pay for it. Can you at least make it quick?" Maylene shouted with her voice rising, along with people in the background chanting for a fight. "People are starting to cheer for a full-out brawl!"

"…Aaron's dead."

"…Wait… Aaron… you mean that Lucario you found on the streets… that Aaron?"

"Yes."

"…Hold on a second." Maylene distanced herself from the phone. Sounds of Close Combat being used, people getting beat up, and crying for mommies spat out from Riley's cell. After a few minutes, Maylene came back onto the line.

"I'm sorry about that; I had to stop all the chaos going on in here for a few minutes… But you're serious? Aaron's really dead?"

"Yeah." Riley confirmed.

"But how?"

"It's a long story. A VERY long story. But first, I need you to pick me up and meet someone."

"You HAVE a car. You can just drive here you know, and it's not really an opportune time for me to leave…"

"Oh believe me, I would, except I think my car got stolen when we went to Canalave City's ice cream shop!"

"OK! OK, no need to shout… All right, I'll be there as soon as I can, but when I arrive, you'd better have a REALLY good explanation for this!"

*click*

Riley sighed as he put up his cell phone. "Great. My house gets burned down, my car gets stolen, AND Aaron's dead! Can this get ANY WORSE?" he shouted to the heavens.

Alpha approached him. "You do realize that if you say that if you say that, things really might get worse?"

Suddenly, a thunderous boom rang out in the skies. The clouds began to grow dark and it started to rain. The drops hit the duo as Riley cursed.

"Aaaaand… it's raining. Of course. Silly me. Things can ALWAYS get worse!"

"…Intriguing. You say things can't get worse, and then they do. I must look into this phenomenon."

"Daaaarrgh!"

* * *

><p>Meanwhile:<p>

_Aaron's POV_

"Whew, finally made our way out of that lab. I swear, how are you supposed to keep yourself from getting lost in there?"

Phoenix and I stood outside of the Team Galactic Laboratories. Phoenix stood ahead of me, staring into the distance as I held the egg. I turned and looked back at the laboratory that had once been my prison.

_"Unbelievable." _I thought to myself. _"Only a few days have passed since I busted out of there. And of course, I'm dead and everything… but I am free."_

"I think we should make our way to Veilstone City." I told the Blaziken as we started walking. "It's the closest city from here and one of Riley's friends lives there. I'm sure they can help us."

"…If they can sense you, of course." Phoenix pointed out. "As I said, mortals can only feel your presence… but not ALL mortals."

"Really? Only SOME mortals can sense you?"

"Yeah, I've come down to Earth before. They say only the pure of heart can feel them… my word, that sounds SO cheesy."

"But it does make sense." I pointed out. "Still, I think Maylene will be able to figure it out."

"Yeah."

As we walked, a couple minutes' worth of awkward silence filled the air. I noted a sensation of familiarity with the location. Fallen trees, shrubbery, and animal tracks coated the area.

Stopping for a second, I examined the tracks on the ground in detail. They were Lucario tracks… my tracks.

That escape from Team Galactic played over again and again in my head.

The sedation…

_…__had no time to react as he was quick and injected a pink liquid into my skin._

_ "Wha…What was that…? Why do I feel so sleepy…?" _

The straps on the metal table…

_…__awoke to find myself strapped to a stainless steel table. The metal felt like ice against my ripped-up fur… _

The fire in the lab…

_ …__something completely unexpected happened...the machine… the machine that was to take my life…blew up. Smoke began to fill the room and flames engulfed the large machine…_

The crawling through the vents…

_I crawled through the small, crowded space and attempted to find a way out of this nightmare._

Taking off the anklet…

_'An answer to your prayers.'_

_ "How'd this end up my pocket? I surely didn't put it in there… And who wrote this?"_

_ I decided not to waste time pondering the subject. I inserted the keycard into the metal device and it snapped off._

Running away…

_Then I ran._

_ I ran away from this prison._

_ Away from this nightmare._

_ And towards…_

_ Towards freedom._

And the fall… Then I woke up with Riley…

_"I'm glad to see you're still alive."_

"Aaron? You okay?" Phoenix said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

I shook my head quickly, attempting to put the thoughts away. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just… memories."

"How far away is Veilstone again?"

"I know the direction of it… but how far it is exactly is kind of a blur."

"Well, that's useful." the Blaziken remarked sarcastically.

"I figure we'll come across it eventu- whoa!"

I fell down a ledge, but it wasn't a very long drop. I went about maybe, 10 feet before I hit the ground. Surprisingly, when I impacted with the earth, it didn't hurt that much.

I pushed my body off of the ground and looked back up. Analyzing it, I discovered that this was the same ledge I fell from during my escape.

"Huh." I said. "I could've sworn that ledge was higher… and I thought that would've hurt a little bit more…"

Instead of deciding to fall off, Phoenix jumped down, using his wings to slow his descent. He walked over to me.

"This is the same place Riley said he found me at…"

"Ahh, Veilstone City." Phoenix said, looking at the prosperous city and not noticing me. He went and paced ahead of me. "Haven't been here since '94. Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Don't worry about me." I told him, catching up. "I'm coming."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile (again)…<p>

"My house. My house. My house. My-"

"Quit ANGSTING." Alpha sighed. "I'm a GENETIC MUTATION and I'm angsting less than you."

"Can you blame me?" Riley snapped, becoming slightly unhinged. "It's not every day a good friend dies and your house burns down."

"Well, I already figured out that there's no point in angsting over what you can't fix."

Riley sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. But then what do we do until Maylene arrives?"

"I don't know. You're the Canalave City citizen, not me."

"…Wanna go get some ice cream?"

* * *

><p>The two made their way back to the familiar ice cream shop where Aaron, Riley, Maylene and Lucas shared ice cream. Riley had passed by here when he was heading to his house, but he didn't pay much attention to it.<p>

"Should I retreat to my Pokéball?" Alpha asked Riley. "I'm not sure how other humans will react to me…"

"Well, that one girl just thought you were a shiny Lucario…"

"…But… shiny Lucarios are golden, not pure white." Alpha pointed out.

"Yeah, she seemed to be pretty gullible. Either that or she's just stupid. …Honestly, I think if we go with the shiny Lucario story, we'll be fine."

"…Then what was the entire point of the Pokéball?" Alpha shouted.

"Well, if Team Galactic comes along, we'll need a way to hide you." Riley mentioned.

"…Fair enough."

Riley looked into the parking lot, to double-check if his car really had been stolen.

"Yep. The Supra is not there. Well, at least I had car insurance. And I almost walk everywhere anyways."

The two entered the local ice-cream shop of Canalave City, with only a few people instead of the usual swarm. Predictably, the few that were inside took notice of Alpha quickly.

"Wow." muttered a random guy. "That's some Lucario."

"I've never seen an all-white Lucario. And not one that tall, either." mentioned a brown-haired girl.

"Yeah." said another guy. "Is it a shiny?"

"…Sure, let's go with that." Riley said.

Since nobody was in line, Riley and Alpha made their way to the front.

"So, what does ice-cream taste like?"

Riley was about to speak up, but he experienced a feeling of déjà vu. He just explained this to Aaron only a single day ago.

"Well…" Riley muttered. "It's cold, and kinda soft. I've… well, you could always take a taste yourself."

"I don't see why not. You pick."

Riley walked up to the counter and talked to Mr. Stark, the guy who always worked here.

"I'll take two vanillas this time."

Mr. Stark eyed Riley and looked behind him. He saw what looked like a white Lucario, about 6 feet tall.

"Another new friend of yours, Riley?"

"…Yeah, you could say that."

Mr. Stark did what he always did and took up two scoops of vanilla ice cream and handed them off to Riley.

"I'm just glad you didn't bring Maylene again. That girl can never make up her mind…"

Riley chuckled. "Yeah. She's like that. At least she still paid you when we all fainted."

"…I'll give her that much."

Riley set the money on the counter for Mr. Stark to take and walked with Alpha outside to one of the many tables. They sat down and Riley handed one of the ice creams to Alpha.

"How is it?" Riley asked, as Alpha cautiously licked the substance.

"…Cold. But not bad actually."

"I'm glad you enjoy it."

"Yes, but back to the matter at hand. Anderson. What will we do if he comes after me? Do I destroy him?"

"I don't know, really. To be honest, more than anything, I want him DEAD for what he's done."

"That's not out of my league." Alpha assured Riley.

"…But."

"But what?"

Riley sighed. "As bad as Doctor Anderson is… Maybe we could give him a second chance… a chance to fess up for his crimes before we try to kill him."

"…Why would you do that? You… saw how evil he is. That's why I didn't want to be like him, or help him rule the world. That's why I saved you. Why would ever consider…?"

"This reminds me of a story, actually. The concept of second chances. Back in the Biblical Times, God asked Jonah to preach His Word to the Ninevites. I'm not going to lecture you on His Word, 'cause believe me, it irks me too when people lecture. But to give a bit of background info, these guys were jerks. They regularly robbed and murdered people; they worshiped false gods, and all sort of other crap. Everybody, including Jonah, just wanted God to destroy the entire city."

"Hmm. You have me intrigued. So why didn't he?"

"God wanted to give them a second chance. Even after they had turned to evil, He was still willing to give them another shot."

"From what I understand, I don't think it would have worked."

"But, it did. That's why I want to try to give the Doctor another chance. If he fesses up to his crimes and turn himself towards good, we can avoid things getting bloody."

"OK…" said Alpha, finishing up his ice cream. "We'll try this… I'm willing to give this a shot… but if he doesn't, we put him down permanently. We kill him. Deal?" Alpha held out his paw.

Riley glanced at Alpha's paw, thinking about the offer. He then took his paw and shook it firmly.

"…Deal."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Yep, the 14th chapter is done. Riley wants to give Doctor Anderson another chance after everything he's done. Give him a chance to turn it all around. Will he?

Anyway, read and review, and look forward for more chapters to come! The next one will focus a bit more on the Doctor...

Also, I would like to thank whoever put this story into the Community 'Pokemon's Best of the Best'! Thank you, it means a great deal to me!


	15. Past of the Captured

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 15: Past of the Captured

Anderson's POV

* * *

><p>Fury. I could feel my blood rising every time I simply thought of him. Alpha. Alpha. Alpha.<p>

Perfection. What I had created. I had outdone God. How could I have let him escape? Alpha. Alpha. Alpha.

Refusal to the call. He wouldn't obey me. Neither me nor Cyrus. He was to be at our beck and whim! How could he have resisted? Alpha. Alpha. Alpha.

Alpha… his name would not leave my head…

Subject: L-25167. It took years to discover how a Lucario's Aura works, and even longer on how it could possibly be extracted. I was the first in the world to know.

It was supposed to go flawlessly. Transfer L-25167's Aura to Project Alpha. Alpha was supposed to obey us. No… obey ME. Why didn't it work? Why did everything get screwed up? Just… dammit, why?

I found myself flying over Jubilife City on the back of Charizard, almost at Canalave. If only I would've had a Dark Ball when Alpha came out. The he'd be my obedient unquestioning slave. Just like Charizard here. Hindsight's 20/20, I guess. Of course, the Dark Ball would've probably had that unfortunately side effect of hampering his power, something I didn't want.

It's humorous, really… I cannot remember where I had picked up Charizard and Tyranitar all those years ago. It's been so long. I wonder who owned these Pokémon before I did… Oh well, it doesn't really matter anyway. They're mine now. And soon enough, Alpha will be joining my collection.

"No mercy."

* * *

><p>I find myself descending down, getting close to Canalave City. It was where I had originally found Riley, and it would be the best place to start. But to avoid arousing suspicion, I decide to land a good distance from his house, at Canalave Bay at the port. Unfortunately, I found myself going TOO close to the water…<p>

"Pull up, Charizard! You're too close! Pull up! Pull up! PULL UP!"

*splash*

I kicked my legs up from where I was, forcing myself up to the surface. I spat out some of the water I swallowed, ticked off at Charizard who was floating next to me. Expecting punishment (which he deserved), I hit him harshly with the back of my hand. He was obedient enough to not retaliate, so I did not give any more necessary discipline.

"Dumb animal…"

Sighing, I recalled him for later use and was thankful that whoever designed these Dark Balls made them waterproof. I slowly made my way to the shore, formulating a strategy to subdue Alpha.

I climbed up a ladder onto the shore docks. I grumbled, knowing my lab coat would have to be sanitized from the sea water before I conducted any more experiments. It was sunny that day, however, so it could at least dry quickly. That wasn't important at the moment, though. What really mattered was that I needed to find Alpha and that human he escaped with as fast as possible.

I made my way into the heart of Canalave City. It had been a while since I came here earlier. I had searched a lot of houses, but I couldn't remember which one was Riley's to save my life. I also didn't get the chance to put a tracking device on Alpha, so my only option was to check the houses one by one, to figure out which was Riley's. I sighed. This was going to be long and tedious work.

50 houses along with some smoldering pile of ash that USED to be a house, 23 angry women, 15 punches, and 1 frying pan to the head later, I STILL had no luck. And I really needed some aspirin for the killer headache I had. I don't get it. What's wrong with an eccentric Team Galactic scientist asking for the whereabouts of a genetic experiment?

…Never mind.

I thought about maybe putting the search on hiatus for a while to go to the Pokémart for some headache relief when I decided to think this problem over again.

"Think, Doctor." I said, trying to put myself into Riley's shoes. "If I was Riley, and I had just escaped from an insane scientist's clutches, where would I go? Shopping? No, that's what Mars would do. Where would Riley go?"

"…"

"…Hmm. Wait a second. Where did Mars accidently encounter Riley and Subject L-25167 again? Some little shop in the middle of the city?"

"…"

"…I can't remember the name of it. Actually, I don't think even Mars knew what the damn place was called. All I remember was that it was an ice cream shop. Time to search for it, I suppose. A scientist's work is never done… I'll be better off searching from the sky. Charizard!"

I toss the Pokéball containing him out and he reappears. He looks straight at me, ready to receive my command.

"We'll be taking to the skies to search for Riley!"

I jump on his back and Charizard starts to flap his wings. He carries me up higher and higher until I have a clear view of the city. My eyes scan over all of Canalave, looking for any sign of the ice cream shop that Riley might be at. I looked at Charizard. As I flew, he seemed to be lost in thought…

* * *

><p>Charizard's POV<p>

I hate you. I hate you. That's what I think about this man. I refuse to call him 'master'. I find myself tied to this man against my will. I've been stuck here for the longest time, for… I can't remember how long. My mind, unfortunately, is still under my control. He controls my body. My mind is free, but my body is not. It's a form of torture really. Being trapped with this evil man with my family back home. Unable to leave. I've tried my hardest to break the hold, but… it's just too damn strong. My kids… my wife… They probably don't even know what happened to their father. They probably think I abandoned them. My kids have probably grown up into Charizards at this point. I only left to get some food…

* * *

><p><em>Flashback<em>

"Just a few more Pecha Berries…"

I was walking just outside the Charicific Valley in Johto. Many bushes grew a distance outside the Valley, and held many different types of berries. Oran, Pecha, Sitrus… There's enough to feed an army! …Or several dozen Charizards. I was collecting berries for my children as well as my wife Elizabeth, another Charizard. Today was her birthday, so I was collecting her favorite; Pecha Berries. We even met over a Pecha Berry that we fought for.

That was the first time a girl ever beat me.

…

…That's all I remember about my family. I don't recall how I proposed. I can't remember what she was like. Hell, I forgot the names of my own children!

…

…Yeah, I still can't remember them. Do you know what it's like to forget the names of your own children?

…

…I was returning to the Charicific Valley when I accidently ran into a strange man. Humans have occasionally run into the Valley, like that Ash trainer, and even Liza, who helps take care of the Valley, so I wasn't surprised by his appearance. But this guy was different. Something about him didn't seem right. His hair was jet black, and he wore these very strange looking goggles. But the big tipoff to me was the laboratory coat. I've heard tales of Pokémon being kidnapped by scientists and becoming… nothing but experiments. I didn't want to be one of those Pokémon. So, I decided to get out A.S.A.P., and ran for the entrance to the Valley, where the many Charizards could easily defeat him. But he sent a Pokémon out to block the entrance. A Tyranitar.

I gasped. Tyranitars were part Rock. And Rock types have a quadruple advantage against Charizards. If I got hit with Stone Edge, Rock Slide, or the like, I'd be immediately knocked out. I knew it was better to flee than fight, so I made a break for it.

"Tyranitar, use Dark Pulse!"

The Tyranitar obeyed its' master with no hesitation and used the ordered move. I was thrown away from the entrance by the move and back towards the scientist. It didn't hurt too badly and I tried to run again.

"I don't think so. Tyranitar, use Stone Edge!"

I had to get away as quickly as I could. If Stone Edge hit me…

…

…I didn't have time. Not enough time. Just a few more seconds and I would've escaped. I'd be with my family now…

…

…Stone Edge was a direct hit. 1 hit K.O. I don't remember anything else until I woke up sometime later.

…

…I felt different. Very different. Not quite myself. Then I saw that man again. We were inside a building, and he had no Tyranitar in sight. I attempted to use Flamethrower, but something stopped me. It wasn't because I didn't want to hurt him, because believe me; I really really REALLY wanted to. Something, an invisible force I can't explain, prevented me from using Flamethrower. Or any other attack on him, for that matter. But why?

Dark Balls. That was his answer. He had captured me with one. I was familiar with Pokéballs and their purpose, but what was different about this one?

They were illegal. He told me that himself. They were illegally manufactured not because of a perfect capture rate. No… they were illegal because they force the Pokémon to obey their 'master' against their will. Who… who would make something like that?

…I did try to defy his orders at first. But he was right about being unable to disobey. You can't. Y-You really can't, no matter how hard you fight.

_End Flashback_

* * *

><p>…I gave up hope a long time ago. It's not happening. I'm never going to see my home again. I'm never going to see my family again. I've accepted that fact already.<p>

…But yet…

…Somewhere, in the back of my head… I've had this crazy, convoluted thought. That I would be free someday. Like that Lucario. He was the only one to escape from Team Galactic, even if briefly. If he can get out, can't I?

…But who am I kidding? His case was a complete stroke of luck. A million to one chance, with the odds totally against him. No one could perform that again. And even then, they still captured him again.

…So, here I am. Just waiting. Waiting for time to eventually take me. Well… maybe someday… we'll finally be together in death.

* * *

><p>Anderson's POV<p>

I sighed, looking at Charizard, still distracted. I hit him on the back of his head to snap him out of it. He shook his head, and then looked at me.

"Stop getting so distracted, Charizard! You should be keeping an eye out for Riley and Alpha!"

Charizard briefly glanced at me, and then he finally got his attention together. We both looked down, searching for any sign of the shop that Riley or Project Alpha might be at. Analyzing the area again, I finally spotted what looked like an ice cream shop.

I smirked. "Finally, we're getting somewhere! Charizard, head over there! Now!"

A groan of possibly exasperation came from the animal, but he still turned to the ice cream shop that I had pointed at. I honestly don't care if he's tired or not, as long as he's doing what he's told, I'm satisfied.

I could almost see it. Finally, getting a hold of the genetic Pokémon that had escaped me! It happened once, but this time with Dark Ball in hand, I'm dead set on capturing it, with or without Cyrus' say!

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Finally, got another chapter done. Thanks for sticking through with me, guys. A lot has cropped up in my life, and I just haven't had much time for many updates. I'm happy to post this chapter, and I'm going to finish this story even if it kills me!

EDIT: To those that are disappointed with the general length and brevity of the chapter, don't worry. The reason for the short length is because I wanted to focus solely on the Doctor and Charizard in this chapter. I feel like I kinda cheaped you guys out because of the long wait and short chapter. The next chapter, I promise you, will be longer.

EDIT 2: Turns out, regarding that community addition mentioned last chapter, the story (and community) were deleted. Just thought I'd let you guys know.


	16. As the Body Breaks

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 16: As the Body Breaks

* * *

><p>"Come on! Can't this dumb thing move any faster?"<p>

Maylene groaned as she tried to get her car through the small road on the way to Canalave. The road wasn't packed, but her car ran slowly than a Snorlax and unfortunately, she didn't have a Flying-type Pokémon to simply fly to Canalave, as she was a Fighting-type Gym Leader.

"You know, I told you to get a Staraptor in an event like this, but no, you said you didn't NEED one. And I quote, 'I don't need a Staraptor. I'm a Fighting-type Gym Leader, for crying out loud! Why would I need a dumb bird?' Unquote." came a voice from the back of the vehicle. Lucas was in the back, with his feet up against the front chair, and was staring out the window. A SLUGMA was beating them.

"You're free to shut up whenever you like." Maylene threw back at the Lucario.

"I could CRAWL to Canalave City faster than this thing could take us there!"

"I said, you're perfectly free to shut your pie hole!" Maylene yelled back. After the gambling incident with her dad, she REALLY didn't want to have to put up with any sass from her Pokémon.

Lucas peeked out the window again, with the Slugma several feet ahead of them. "Master, a SLUGMA going faster than this worthless piece of-"

Suddenly, the brakes were slammed and the car was brought to a loud, screeching halt.

"Hey, what was that for?" Lucas asked her.

"Look, Lucas. I am NOT in the mood to hear about your snarkiness. I get to start off my day with finding out that my father gambled away all of his welfare money AGAIN, then I get the call from Riley that Aaron's apparently dead, so NO, I'm really not in a good mood. I don't want to hear about how my car is a good for nothing pile of crap, or your 'I told you so' story. So, please… just let me drive my car in silence."

Lucas backed down, as Maylene resumed driving. He hadn't realized how his master was taking the whole situation. Having an estranged relationship with her father as well as trying figure out Aaron's death and balance being the Veilstone City Gym Leader on top of it. "Yes, Master." he nodded quietly.

The trip from that point on was deathly silent. One could have heard the Kricketots chirping softly in the distance. Lucas shifted uncomfortably in the back, trying to take his mind off of the awkward moment. He looked at the window and its' open switch. Getting an idea, he pushed the switch down to open the window. Embracing his canine genes, he did what every dog does in the car: stick his head out of the window and pant.

It felt relieving. It took his mind off of the subject. Looking outside across the road, he noticed a sheppard's field full of Mareep. He stopped panting to focus on counting them.

One…

One life. Aaron's life. Taken. He didn't know how, but all he knew was that Aaron was dead now. One can't reverse death… can they?

Two…

Two days. That's how long he was here. With Riley, anyway. Lucas had only known Aaron half as long. If Lucas had only known him for about a day, then why was he upset that he was dead? Why should he care?

But then…

Lucas thought back. Back to when they met. He had talked to him; about how these… urges… he had felt around Maylene whenever she was with Riley. It had felt safer to confine in him about it since he was another Lucario. He was worried that he was sexually lusting for a human being… much less his own master!

He was very glad that wasn't the case.

Three…

Three years. That is how long Aaron has claimed to be held captive by Team Galactic. Tortured and experimented on. At first, Lucas thought it could have just been some elaborate bluff or joke. After all, Riley certainly would have gotten a kick out of it. But then the evidence against it started piling up. Aaron's emotional fragility was not something he had witnessed before. Vulnerable. Weak. Afraid of retaliation.

The unspeakable story with the female Galactic grunt was what sealed the deal. No one but a sick, twisted individual would try to pull that as part of a joke. And the pure face of horror on Aaron made it clear that he was no such individual.

Four…

The four of them. Riley, Maylene, Aaron, and Lucas. A quartet. Lucas hadn't really thought about it much before, but Riley was the only person he really knew outside of his master, Maylene… despite Lucas' initial hatred. That hatred might have lasted forever if Aaron hadn't come along. Lucas' cold heart started to open towards others, and he eventually saw that Riley wasn't that bad of a person. In fact, he was a very good one.

Five…

Six…

As he continued counting, Lucas' eyes started to grow weary.

Seventeen…

Eighteen…

Eighteen point five…

18.5 seconds. Half a second too slow by standards, he said. But for a mile? It was remarkable speed. At least as fast as the Beast of Water, Suicune. To match the speed of the Legendary Suicune, Aaron must've gone through some extremely intense training with Team Galactic. Lucas, being only a measly level 28, didn't have the training to possibly match up to that. It would have been nice to get training from Aaron to help improve his own speed.

Of course, he was dead now. And nothing could change that.

Growing drowsy again, he rolled up the window as he finished counting sheep. Not unbuckling his seatbelt, he simply lay down against the headrest and started to sleep.

* * *

><p>2 hours later…<p>

"Whoa!"

Lucas was violently woken up by a powerful motion, jerking him forward. However, he was kept in place by his seatbelt. After coming out of a brief daze, he asked,

"Just what the hell was that?" he muttered to himself.

He peeked up to the front seat to see Maylene with her hands on the wheel, her face unsteady. Lucas pondered if he should try asking her what was wrong, but he didn't want to risk a punch in the face.

"…Umm, Master?"

"…" She was silent.

"Is everything OK? Your face of horror would suggest that some terrifying cataclysm has been unleashed upon Sinnoh."

"…"

"Like those legends of Giratina?"

"…"

"Master?" he asked again. Unbuckling and approaching the front of the car, he easily saw what the problem.

"That's a relief." he said, peeking at the dashboard. "Just ran out of gas is all."

"Oh, that's all?" Maylene sighed in frustration. "No, I don't suppose the fact that we're OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF FREAKIN' NOWHERE WITH NO GAS IN A BLIZZARD is a big issue, right?"

Lucas looked out the window after a loud 'THUNK!' from heavy hail hit the car. Yep. Giant blizzard of doom outside trying to maul the car. And, would you look at that, hail the size of golf balls. It's been a great day so far, hasn't it?

"Well, this can't be right…" he muttered. "A blizzard shouldn't be here in the lower half of Sinnoh. Unless…"

Lucas sighed. "I'm gonna have to check this out."

"Are you crazy?" Maylene looked at him. "You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Don't worry about me. I'm part Steel-type. I'll be fine."

"But that blizzard is…"

He stepped outside into the dangerous blizzard (fortunately, he had that handy resistance to Ice), not hearing the rest of Maylene's sentence. Coming across a number of wild, savage Ice-type Pokémon nearby, he managed to make quick work of them thanks to said resistance. Traveling further and starting to shiver, he navigated his way to a signpost to check their location. He groaned when he saw it read 'Route 216'.

"Just how does one get so horrifically lost? She must have driven through the entire Mt. Coronet range while I was sleeping to get here! You'd think that would tip her off…"

Cursing to himself, he left the signpost to try to get back to the car. He knew the longer he stayed in the blizzard, the more the hail would damage him. His plan was to get back to the car, take a few Super Potions, and try to get to Snowpoint City for help. He tried to go back the way he came, but the harsh blizzard had covered his tracks.

"…Crap." he muttered. "Should've thought of a way to retrace my steps."

It was getting colder, and Lucas could feel him getting weaker and weaker. He was close to collapsing unconscious, and the cold would then surely later murder his unconscious body. He knew he had heard something about moss growing on the north side of trees, which could have helped him find his way… except it was TOO DARN COLD for moss to grow anywhere!

Frantic, he scanned the area for ANY kind of cave or dwelling where he could stay until he warmed up. Snow. He turned around. More snow. He turned to his left. What a surprise, more snow. Hoping for the best, he turned to his right and saw snow. Just snow.

"Don't tell me I'm going to die out here. Damn it, this is one of those times when I really just should have listened to her." he whispered to himself. He felt like he could collapse right then and there, and he would surely die. Worse than before, his chest fur has proven ineffective in keeping him warm and the paws on his feet started to get frostbite. Even his chest spike was starting to freeze.

He looked deeper into the blizzard in the current direction he faced. There was no hope coming from there. It was just heartless, unknowing cold.

…Was it?

…

…

…Looking farther into the blizzard, he saw a light in the distance. A faint one, yet a very reassuring one. It said that everything was going to be all right. His brain pumping his body with adrenaline, he ran for it.

So he ran.

He ran despite his pain.

He ran as fast as his legs could take him.

He ran with a faint hope in his heart, which grew stronger with every step.

But as his hope grew stronger, his energy grew weaker. But the light was just so close, he could almost grasp it.

Then, just as quickly as it had come, the light had vanished. For a split second, Lucas panicked. But, moving his arms to try to swing hoping for the light, his paws instead touched metal.

He looked in front of him, and he could just barely make out the figure of the car. Immediately, he swung open the unlocked door, crawled inside with his adrenaline gone, and shut the door closed. He started to shiver on the floor of the car.

Maylene turned her head to see her Pokémon come back in. "Lucas! Why did you leave like that? I was going to warn you about that blizzard, but you just…"

She stopped when she noticed Lucas' entire body shivering. "Lucas?"

Lucas' paws were tightly wrapped around himself, trying desperately to warm up as his teeth chattered. Maylene noticed the frostbitten toes.

"Oh boy." she muttered to herself. "He needs something to warm up." She peeked into the glove compartment box for a blanket, but blankets typically aren't in glove compartment boxes. Crawling into the back and over Lucas, she found only a single blanket. She picked up Lucas' body and set it on the back seats. Then she put the blanket over him, trying to restore his body heat. Peeking into the glove compartment again, she pulled out a spare Super Potion and an Ice Heal. Quickly, she administered them to him. Now, Maylene could only wait for Lucas to recover… and for someone to rescue them.

* * *

><p>30 minutes later…<p>

Maylene found herself leaning against the back of her seat, waiting impatiently for something to happen. She had nothing she could do. No GPS, no gas, a still-unconscious Lucas, and don't forget stuck in a freezing blizzard… she wanted to kick herself for getting them so lost.

"Nice going, Maylene." she said, talking to herself in the third person. "How do you screw up THAT much?" She peeked outside the window, but the blizzard wasn't getting any better. Looking back into the glove compartment, they had some food supplies… that is, if a bag of Cheez-its and a half-eaten pretzel could count as 'food supplies'. She searched further in the compartment. Other than that, there was some lint, but…

"And if this blizzard doesn't kill us, starvation will. " She leaned back in her chair again.

"…Uh."

"Yeah Lucas, what is it?" she asked grumpily, with her arms crossed. Only after a few seconds did she realize what that groan meant. Almost immediately, she unbuckled and went to the back of the car.

She stood next to Lucas, looking over him. His body seemed to be moving slightly, and she rubbed his head.

"Lucas…" she muttered. "You better be OK."

As she continued rubbing his head, Lucas started to stir a bit more, coming out of unconsciousness. Maylene felt his four paws and chest spike, both of which were still very cold. While she examined the spike, ice was still on it, and didn't seem to be melting off. She tried to pry the remaining ice off, but it was still adhered onto it. Lucas didn't seem to respond to the action, so she continued to try to pull it off. She thought she had it, until one wrong motion…

SNAP!

She pulled back with the ice in her hands. She felt successful for a split second. Then she looked into the ice she pried off. The chest spike was in there. The extreme cold had made the calcium in the solid spike to freeze up and become brittle. The pain of the chest spike ripping off brought Lucas to full consciousness, and he found himself screaming in horror.

"OH MY GOD! OH MY GOD…!" Lucas experienced the unbearable pain. He breathed rapidly, trying to cope with it. But once the pain partially subsided, he was able to analyze his body. Feeling an open hole in his chest (and blood on his fingers), he knew something had happened.

"My… spike…" Lucas started to hyperventilate in panic, the pain coming back.

"Lucas!"

The Lucario turned around to see Maylene, holding a simple chunk of ice. His breathing started to slow again.

"…Maylene?"

"…Yes?"

"W-What happened to my ch-chest spike…?" he shivered. He looked at the ice she was holding. "W-What's inside that ch-chunk of ice?"

Maylene was caught in an awful situation. She had just ripped the chest spike off of her own Pokémon. It wasn't really her fault; the thing would have eventually fallen off on its' own due to the brittleness. However, she still did it, if unintentionally, and had hurt her own Pokémon… something she'd never do. And now Lucas was asking what happened. Does she lie? Or maybe Lucas already knew.

"M-Maylene…" he muttered, shivering under the blanket.

"…I'm sorry. I was trying to just get the ice off, but then… this happened." She held the chunk of ice in front of Lucas, who looked into it. Inside the ice was a once beautiful, fierce piece of him. Now, it was a dull and brittle thing.

"M-My…" Lucas stuttered. Then he sighed. The sharp pain of the spike being ripped off had gone away now, and was left with a dull, bleeding hurt.

"I-It was an accident."

"…That spike means a lot to us Lucarios. More than you know." he continued to shiver under the blanket. "It speaks of our power as a species. Though, I guess not much of MY power…" he chuckled. "But, it's also a part of us. It's like what muscles are to guys and… what cleavage is to women, I suppose. It's the part of our body we like to show off to attract a mate. And it signifies authority and power to other Pokémon species. A Lucario can live his life without it with no ill effects. Some are even born without spikes, but…"

"…Yes." Maylene found herself feeling guilty and unusually soft-spoken. She didn't know that a chest spike did all of that. A chest spike held that much status?

"I know; I'm really…"

"But Maylene…" he interrupted.

"…" She remained quiet to let Lucas continue.

"I'm the one that should feel stupid. A lot of times I don't listen to you. And a lot of times, I have to face the consequences. Same thing here. You were right. I almost DID kill myself out there. I'm fortunate that I even got back here. …And I over-estimate myself. I think I'm capable of doing all of these things, when I keep forgetting that I'm under level 30. I still have work to do. …I guess that, long story short; I should have listened to you. **I **am sorry."

Maylene groaned. "Please tell me either that this grows back, or we can pay for surgery or something… not that we have much money with all of Dad's gambling."

Lucas sighed. "No, it doesn't grow back. Nor would surgery work. And even if did, we couldn't pay due to… you know, your dad."

"Does it still hurt?" Maylene wondered.

"Nah, it's kind of subsided. It feels a bit weird… but I suppose I'll get used to it. The scar will heal up by itself."

"…So, you're NOT angry? Because if I were you, I probably would have lost it. Might have attacked my trainer for doing something like that… and great, now I'm giving you ideas."

Lucas chuckled. "Well, you're not me. But a lot has changed for me over these past few days. Meeting Aaron has really… I don't know, made me think about myself. I think I'm a better 'Mon. Besides, with how it just snapped off like that, it probably would have fallen off on its' own."

"I suppose you're right."

"Still, how are we going to get out of this mess?"

Maylene rolled her eyes. "Well, I know one thing. You're definitely not going back out there again."

Lucas smiled softly. "Fair enough. Then, I guess we don't have much choice but to wait it out. Hope we turn out alright."

Maylene smiled. "Don't worry, Lucas. I think we'll make it."

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

*cue usual apologies for updating late* I know, I know. I've been lackluster on updates since summer started. I just haven't felt any good ideas come around for awhile. And I know it's a long excruciating wait. Heck, it's almost this story's one year anniversary. But I can promise you this. It WILL be finished. You can count on it.

- AuraWielder


	17. To Canalave City

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 17: To Canalave City

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><p><em>Aaron's POV<em>

"So, which one of Riley's friends lives here again?" asked the Blaziken.

The Blaziken and I walked through the streets of Veilstone. They were incredibly busy, like any other major city you would see in the Sinnoh region. I observed that to the distance, there was a major business building of some sort. It caught my eye because of the Team Galactic symbol. I walked by it quickly, feeling uncomfortable.

We passed by many people, though none of them could see us. There might have been a couple who felt our presence, but if they did, they didn't show it.

"Aaron, I just asked you a question. Did you not hear me?"

"…Oh, Maylene." I told him, readdressing him. "She's a Gym Leader here. She's probably in her gym training with Lucas."

_"Lucas…"_ I thought as I navigated my way to the gym. _"The memories I did have with him were pretty vivid. From our nasty first meet, to talk about his (what he thought was) sexually lusting for his master, to becoming friends, to him being more open and less hostile to Riley… did I really change him that much?"_

My thoughts had distracted me so much that I didn't realize that I was in the middle of phasing through the door to the gym. Phoenix yanked me back to snap me out of it.

"What was that for?" I asked him.

Phoenix simply pointed at the sign on the Gym. I looked at it.

'All Gym Battles are temporarily on hold for the time being. Gone to Canalave City. Be back soon.'

"Great…" I muttered. "Now what?"

"What else?" said Phoenix. "We head to Canalave."

"But that's on the other side of Sinnoh!" I told him. "It'll take several hours to get there!"

"I suppose…" Phoenix muttered. "Even if we flew there, it would still take a good hour to reach the city. That's not enough time. We would need to get there before Anderson."

"Can't we just teleport there?" I asked him. "You know, like we did from heaven not too long ago? It couldn't be that hard!"

Phoenix shook his head. "That's only if you come straight down from there. On Earth, an angel's powers are much more limited than if he was in heaven. Here, the only thing we get is flight, and our regular combat powers. It's to prevent us from getting too carried away, if you know what I mean."

"…I guess so… Still, if I had known that Maylene wasn't going to be here, I would have opted to go straight to Canalave."

"On the other hand, we wouldn't have gotten that useful information from the Doctor."

"…True…" I muttered, trying to push out thoughts of the nasty things I wanted to do to him.

"But we still need a way to get to Canalave, and pronto." Phoenix reminded me.

"Yeah, but… hmm. I wonder…"

"Wonder what?"

"Well… we passed by a business building earlier." I informed him. "From what I saw, it belonged to a Team that I know all too well."

"Team Galactic?"

"…Yeah. But, given their technology, they might have something like a teleportation device. The idea's not too far-fetched."

"Well, if we want to get there before Anderson, who already got a head-start on us, then that's our best shot." Phoenix said.

I nodded, and we made our way to the building that I didn't want to have anything to do with…

* * *

><p>The two of us stood in front of the Team Galactic building. I gulped, not wanting to have anything to do with it.<p>

"What if they see us?" I asked him, concerned.

"Did you already forget?" the Blaziken chuckled. "We're ANGELS. No one can see or hear us. Do I really need to go through the whole 'pure of heart' thing again?"

"Oh…" I sweatdropped nervously. Truth be told, I HAD forgotten about that. "…Right. Well, I guess we had better get going then, huh?"

We entered the building. To my surprise, the building was empty and seemed to be closed for the day.

"Where is everyone?" I muttered to myself.

"Not here." Phoenix told me. I rolled my eyes and gave him a bewildering glance.

"Really?" I remarked sarcastically. Sarcasm and talking back were still a bizarre conception to me. I had never really tried it before. Must've picked some of it up from Lucas somewhere along the line…

"Well, where else do you think they'd be?" I asked him as we walked through the unoccupied hallways.

"…Is today Sunday?" he wondered. "That might explain it."

"…You really think that a villainous team bent on destroying lives after what they did to me would ACTUALLY go to church?" I said with more sarcasm. Despite my tone, it felt kind of nice to let myself rant about the people I hated.

"Whoa, since when did you become the King of Sarcasm?" Phoenix asked, surprised at me.

"…Sorry." I apologized again, after realizing how mean I had sounded. "Just needed to vent a little, I guess. I'm not usually a sarcastic 'Mon…"

We continued to walk through the hallways, both of us still wondering where the building's scientists and workers were. We had looked about half of the building for a teleporter, and we still saw nobody. The silence of it all was deafening.

"You sure there's a teleporter in here?" Phoenix asked me. "If we don't find it soon, we'll just have to-"

"Hey. Hey, Phoenix." I said, peering through a cracked door.

Phoenix eyed me with curiosity. "Yeah?"

"There's something big going on here. Come look."

"Aaron, we don't have-"

"Cyrus and his followers are here! They're up to something."

This had caught Phoenix's attention. "What ARE they up to? I would have suspected that they would have gone after their Project Alpha by now…"

The two of them peeked through the door to eavesdrop on the meeting, trying to 'avoid getting caught' (amusingly enough, both of them had forgotten that they already couldn't be seen).

All of Cyrus' minions: the top executives such as Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn were here, as well as other important scientists and researchers. They all sat around a semi-circle table, waiting for Cyrus to speak.

"Urgh, Cyrus. Why did you have to call us here?" groaned Saturn. The sharp blue-haired Team Galactic executive sat in a chair, his mouth still bleeding from being punched so hard. "I feel like crap right now."

"Well, I don't see the point in me staying. I already know what you're going to say to us, Cyrus; I heard it the first time." Mars sighed, bored once more. "Can't I just go get some ice cream?"

"NO! YOU MAY NOT GET ANY DAMN ICE CREAM! THEY WILL BE NO DAMN ICE CREAM AT THIS MEETING!" Cyrus screamed, losing his temper. Some of the scientists gave Cyrus an odd glance, as he was usually the stoic one.

"…I'm the only normal one here, aren't I?" Jupiter muttered to herself.

Cyrus quickly recomposed himself. "I… um… apologize for that outburst, folks." he addressed his workers. "But, as leader of Team Galactic, I am to inform the top executives and scientists that there has been a change in plans. Project Alpha is over."

This statement sent the scientists and other Team Galactic members into shock (other than Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, of course).

"They're giving up on Project Alpha?" I muttered confused. "I thought they would have been all over him."

"B-But sir!" one of the scientists protested. "We've already dedicated 23 years to this project, as well as millions of dollars and-"

"The lives of many Pokémon." Cyrus finished for him. "I am already well aware of that, Dr. Harvey. However, we must consider the consequences of going after him. He is too powerful for any of us to handle. I'm not even sure of how the likes of Dialga and Palkia could stand up to him. After the… quitting of Dr. Anderson, our lead scientist in the project, he went rogue. I don't want to risk putting any of you in danger of him, since he has assaulted Executive Saturn as you can see. And I know that he will surely pursue Alpha. I am sure that he will fail in his attempts to capture him, if he is truly strong as our tests made him out to be."

Another scientist raised her hand. "But then, sir, what is your plan for Team Galactic?"

"I have already come up with one. I am sure that everyone here has heard of the Lake Guardians, correct. THEY are our next target."

This comment drew much controversy from the scientists, shocked by the sudden change in plans. I looked at Cyrus. I had no idea who the Lake Guardians were, but Phoenix's reaction from above me wasn't pretty.

"Sir, how do you propose we capture these Legendary Pokémon?" asked another executive. "And what are we going to do with them?"

"That is easily explained. I plan to extract the red jewels from their heads, to create a Red Chain. With it, I will summon Dialga and Palkia. And with their power, we can do more than rule the world. We can create a new one. A perfect world, void of emotion and run by logic. Any questions?"

Everyone remained uncomfortably silent, even the lead executives of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

"Good. You are all dismissed."

With those words, everyone left the room including Cyrus, bar Saturn. He was still lying there, moaning.

"I need an aspirin…" he muttered, covering his head, now throbbing of the pain of his assault.

* * *

><p>"I found the teleporter, over here! Let's get to it before anyone else figures out why things are suddenly turning on."<p>

I ran to the room Phoenix was standing in front of.

"Do you think he's serious?" I asked Phoenix as we walked in and he set up the controls. "I mean, about using the lake guardians to extract a chain to create a new world?"

Phoenix pushed a couple of buttons, listening to me as I talked. "He might be. You're supposed to know how far he'll go."

"I'm a bit worried." I muttered. "I think he's going to try and play god. That's not going to turn out well."

"Well, if he is, we can't do anything about it. We have to let nature run its' course, even if it means Cyrus going that far. So many people have tried to play God in history. All of the Egyptian pharaohs, Caesar, Napoleon, et cetera. Even if Cyrus did gain the power of a god, he can never truly BE God. No one can. Anyway, I think I have this all set up."

Phoenix pushed a button on the side of the circular teleportation device. The pad on the bottom glowed green, ready to go.

"Hopefully, we can at least stop Anderson once and for all…"

The two stepped into the pad, being whisked away to Canalave City at the speed of sound.

* * *

><p><em>Pokémon © Nintendo  Game Freak_

Woo, update. After 3 months. I suck. Sorry guys, but school's been getting in the way a lot, plus recently I had come down with bronchitis. It's not abandoned, and I trust that you guys will stay with me through the end.


	18. A New Beginning

Breaking the Chains

Chapter 18: A New Beginning

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><p>"So… any idea where in Canalave City this teleporter is going to drop us off?" I asked the Blaziken. The two of us were flying through this… weird and rather trippy place, going through a tunnel covered in these Tron-like lines. Next to us flew jet streams of numbers.<p>

"I don't know." he admitted. "I didn't set an exact location on the teleporter, so it will probably be randomized. We could possibly get sepera-"

Before Phoenix could finish his sentence, I was pulled down through the same tunnel Phoenix was pulled up. The jet stream of numbers soared by mind-bendingly fast. The gravity was pulling me down so fast; I thought I would black out. My eyes were forced closed, and I wondered what would happen.

"Whoa!"

Phoenix was spiraling away from Aaron at super speed. He tried to fight the current forcing him upwards, but it was too strong. As for his wings, Donatello and Leonardo, they provided him no way to fight the furious current. He was helpless as he found himself continuing to spiral upwards and upwards until…

He was out of the teleport system. He looked around, flapping his wings high in mid-air. He saw the pearly gates to the side of him, and realized that he was back in heaven.

"Wha-" he muttered confused. "How…?"

He slowly flapped his wings back over to the streets of gold. "How could did happen? What even happened?" He ran swiftly past the humans, past the angels, past the Pokémon, past the trees of gold and silver, past the chrysanthemums of ruby and sapphire, and past the roses of diamond and pearl, to a hill out into the distance.

The same hill Aaron had first climbed when he came here.

This hill was a special place. Aside from offering the best view money could never buy you, it has a power. Well, more of a connection, perhaps. It was a direct line to the Almighty Himself. At any time during their day, any resident of heaven could take their time out of it to go up on this hill and talk directly to God. He was a fascinating deity like that, and took the time to answer questions anybody would ask. Though He helped to explain many things, He never said a word about political issues. He told the people who asked about homosexuality, abortion, and the like to simply 'respect each other for how you feel or what you believe'.

But Phoenix's issue had nothing to do with that.

"God…" he muttered. "…I confess that I really haven't talked to you much recently. But… I guess I can talk about that later. What I do need to talk about is… well… what do you plan to do with Aaron? We agreed to simply give the egg to Riley and be on our way… but the more time I spent with him; the more it seemed that he really wanted to go back. He wanted to go back to Earth, and live a normal life with Riley. Can you seriously do… wait, what am I saying? Of course you can DO that… but would you WANT it?"

He waited. It almost seemed like hours had passed before Phoenix received an answer. Finally, a voice spoke to him telepathically.

"His desire to return to his realm is strong. I can tell you that he truly does want to go back. Normally, people and Pokémon alike usually don't want to return because it is so perfect up here. But he feels differently. Even after meeting you and his parents, he still desires to go back and live a true life. In the end, there is a loophole he can exploit to return to his realm, but whether or not he chooses to use it is his decision. I don't speak for him."

After that, the voice and its' presence vanished, and Phoenix was left alone.

"…Aaron… whatever you choose… I hope you do the right thing…"

* * *

><p>Aaron's POV<p>

When I open my eyes again, I discover that I'm in a bush. A sharp, prickly bush that HURT. I jumped out due to the pain and pulled the pointed leaves out of my body. Apparently, angels are still susceptible to injury, even if they're invisible. After I was done, I took a look around. I had landed just outside the ice cream shop, the same one Riley took me to before we were kidnapped.

And speaking of Riley, there he was, to my complete surprise, walking with an odd creature that looked somewhat like me, but much taller and with a pure white body.

In my excitement, I had called out to Riley, but I had forgotten something rather crucial.

I'm dead.

The man had stopped for a moment, almost as if he heard me call his name.

"Did you… hear that, Alpha?" Riley said, referring to the mysterious creature as that.

"Hear what?" the creature known as Alpha questioned.

"I could've sworn that I heard somebody call out my name."

I gasped. "How on Earth did he actually hear me? If I'm an angel, then he shouldn't… wait. Phoenix had said that only the pure of heart could sense angels, as cheesy as it sounds. Is Riley that pure? Or maybe the fact that he has aura has something to do with it."

"Maybe you're hearing things?" Alpha suggested to Riley.

"No, no. There's someone else here aside from the two of us. I can sense their aura. And it's a Lucario."

"Since when can a human sense aura?" Alpha asked.

"Well, I did some background research on my family after I discovered my aura powers, and it turns out that I'm a descendant of the knight Sir Aaron. He was also one of the few humans capable of using aura."

"…Fascinating."

"I'm going to go see if I can't find-"

"THERE YOU ARE, YOU REBELLIOUS BEAST!"

Riley and Alpha looked up to see a man descend on the wings of a Charizard. An all too familiar man.

"Doctor Anderson." all three of us said in sync.

"What are YOU doing here?!" Riley yelled at him.

"More like, what are you two doing STILL ALIVE?!" he growled ferociously. He leapt off of his Charizard and faced Riley and Alpha.

"…Yeah. I'm not sure if that 'second chance' thing is going to work out." Alpha whispered to Riley.

"Perhaps n-" Riley was interrupted by a fist to the face by the doctor. He stumbled back into one of the outside table and held his now bleeding mouth.

Out of my protective instinct for Riley, I leapt out and attempted to punch Anderson. I had forgotten of my angel status and instead phased straight through him. I just as quickly took cover again, keeping an eye on Riley. I had wanted to hurt him so badly for what he had put me and Riley through. I do admit it; I wanted revenge.

Fortunately, Alpha did the attacking for me. He launched a Dragon Pulse at the doctor which he swiftly dodged.

"This is just the beginning!" cackled the doctor, lost in insanity. He commanded his Pokémon to attack.

"Charizard, Flamethrower!"

Against the Charizard's will, he found himself trying to incinerate the people he didn't want to hurt. Alpha jumped out of the way, and the bushes behind him caught on fire. At this point, everyone except myself, Riley, Alpha, and Anderson had left the shop, leaving us alone to battle.

"Alpha!" Riley yelled.

"What is it?" he asked as he continued to dodge the attacks.

"I'm going to see if I can't find that other aura source. Can you hold him off?"

"I'll manage. You go and find this guy. Maybe he can help us!"

Riley ran off into the distance, leaving Alpha and Anderson to battle. The doctor dismissed Riley's leaving as an act of cowardice. But it didn't matter to him, as long as he could defeat the experiment he had brought to life and bring him under his control…

* * *

><p>Riley found himself in a secluded forest area to the west of Canalave City. There was a small lake connected to Canalave Bay that he passed by. He could feel the aura sense becoming stronger and stronger. He eventually found its' peak point and suspected to find someone, but he saw no one.<p>

What he didn't know was that he was standing right next to me.

"…Hello?!" he called out.

I debated calling out at him again. He obviously heard me the first time, but I wasn't sure if he was quite ready to talk with a dead Pokémon.

"Hello?!"

I sighed and finally made my decision. I was going to tell him everything.

"Riley."

Riley spun around again, still seeing no one. He heard someone. He sensed someone. He knew someone was there, but he didn't know who. But the voice sounded a lot like someone else he once knew…

"Where are you?" Riley asked. "Why do you sound like you're in front of me? …And why does your voice sound like Aaron's?"

"…Riley. It IS me. I'm just… kinda dead."

Riley was baffled. How was this even possible? That simply COULDN'T be Aaron talking to him. He was dead. Dead Pokémon don't come back to life.

"…A-Aaron? This can't be possible." Riley said, disbelieving. "I saw you die with my own eyes. I saw them extract your aura, your life force. I-I have to be hallucinating."

"Then how come you could sense my aura?" I said to him.

"…" That got Riley to thinking. If Aaron had his aura extracted when he died, then how come Riley could sense it?

"…You… bring up a good point." Riley admitted. "How?"

"I think that when I died… and ascended to heaven… maybe part of my aura came back? I don't know, Riley. I'm just as confused as you are on this."

"…" Riley was still standing there, trying to take in what was happening. Aaron died, he knew that. But then, why has he come back to Earth? What is he doing here? And just what the heck was going on?!

"Aaron… umm… this is kind of awkward, but… why are you here? Shouldn't you be in heaven if you ARE dead?"

"I probably should, but… I want to come back, Riley. So desperately. You were the first time I EVER got to live my life, and I… it sounds selfish, but I want it back. I want the chance to fully live my life with someone who truly cares about me. Someone like you."

Riley teared up a little bit at hearing that. He was the first human Aaron had come to trust. And Riley had wanted Aaron to come back, too.

The forest area was a calm quiet as Riley sat there, lost in thought. He truly WAS talking to Aaron. The birds chirped in the trees above, and the sun peaked through the spaces above the trees. It was so relaxing, just taking in the sunlight. He had nearly forgotten about Alpha until Aaron spoke up again.

"Riley."

"…Huh?"

"I know you're glad I'm here, but Alpha's still out there battling the Doctor. You need to bring me back to life so I can help Alpha. I've been under the Doctor's hand for 3 years. I know everything about him. And Alpha can't defeat him without my help."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Wait a second!" Riley shouted, stunned. "You want ME to bring you back to life?! I can't do that! I don't know the first thing about-"

"Riley. Calm." Aaron assured him. "I've changed a lot since we first met. I know how to bring myself back. Possibly. It's a one-shot chance, but…"

"What are you thinking?"

"…If Alpha gets killed, it's possible that his aura would make its' way back to the original source. Me. If he dies… I could come back to life."

"Wait… could? Possibly?"

"There's also the possibility that if Alpha dies…" I paused for a second. "Then that's it. Neither of us would come back to life."

"So, you want ME to tell him to kill himself?" Riley asked, somewhat flabbergasted. "Commit suicide? Are you seriously suggesting that?"

"Riley… listen to me. Alpha is what Anderson is after. He wants nothing more of Alpha than to use him to take over the world. And he'll never stop until he gets what he wants. I know him too well. And if Alpha dies… and if he can never come back to this world… then everything Anderson has ever worked for will be gone."

"…" Riley was left speechless. Aaron was correct in every regard. If Alpha died, then Anderson would have nothing left of his research. His years of research and genetic development would simply vanish. And there would be nothing left for him to attempt to rule the world with.

But… suicide? Was Aaron truly suggesting that Alpha should kill himself to end this madness? True, it would end things, and it could possibly revive Aaron, but… it didn't simply sit very well with Riley.

"I… don't know…" Riley said uneasily. He couldn't believe the idea of suggesting suicide to Alpha was still playing around in his head. Murdering him would have the same effect, but Riley simply couldn't do that. He knew that he'd never live down the guilt. "…Doesn't this all seem rather… selfish? I want you to come back too, but…"

I gulped. "It does seem rather selfish of me, doesn't it?"

"As much as I want you to come back, I don't want to tell Alpha to kill himself just to do so."

"Riley!"

Riley's eyes widened. That was Alpha's voice. Had he heard the entire conversation that he was having?

But then… why was that a panicked scream?

Crashes were heard throughout the forest area as Alpha ran towards Riley. The doctor followed behind flying at super speed on his Charizard. He had lost all connection to reality, and had become full-blown INSANE. Even Alpha recognized that the mad doctor would stop at absolutely nothing until Alpha finally became nothing more than his obedient slave.

"What's going on?!" shouted Riley in surprise.

Alpha breathed heavily as the two ran quickly away from the doctor who was quickly catching up to them. Aaron silently followed.

"He's gone completely INSANE!"

"I can see that!"

The two maneuvered through the trees, having their agility as their sole advantage over the doctor's speed. But it didn't help them much, as the doctor had sheer willpower on his side along with his speed, and he WOULD. NOT. GIVE. UP.

"I managed to knock out his Tyranitar, having an easy quadruple advantage against it, but I can't defeat his Charizard! No matter what I do, no matter how powerful of an attack I launch at him, he will not stay down!"

"Well then, we've gotta figure out something to do, and quick!"

Riley and Alpha attempted to dodge the attacks of his Charizard, who was shooting fireballs at them. Fortunately, both of them were rather nimble and managed to sidestep the attacks.

But rather unfortunately, their path came to an end and they found themselves trapped between Dr. Anderson and the ocean in front of them. While the both of them could swim, if they attempted to do so, they'd end up in jumping down a large, steep cliff and if the fall didn't kill them, the doctor would.

They were going to have to stand and fight with Aaron still wishing that there was something he could do.

"I don't like using my aura abilities offensively…" Riley muttered. "But I'll have to make an exception!"

The two of them ran at high speed towards the doctor, with fists full of aura. Riley jumped and managed to grab onto the doctor's coat, with Anderson trying to shake him off. It didn't stop Riley from climbing up with his strong grip and attempting to punch him in his face.

Anderson recoiled from the blow, made extra painful from being powered by aura. Riley leapt down as Alpha prepared to go on the offense.

Riley watched Alpha wall jump off of a tree to gain enough momentum to reach the doctor, who was flying high up in the sky now. The two grappled with each other, both attempting to strangle the other. The rapid and heavy shifting of weight caused the flying Charizard to lose control, banging into trees, spinning around in many directions, and finally spiraling back towards Riley.

The human dived out of the way of the Charizard as he crash-landed. However, the forward momentum caused both Alpha and Anderson to tumble off. Their stumble from off the Charizard and to the ocean below seemed to happen in slow motion. Riley leapt to try and grab Alpha to save him.

He just missed. Barely.

Charizard pulled him back so Riley wouldn't fall off as well. Riley couldn't pull his eyes away as the two plummeted to what seemed to be their demise. He watched as they fell to see Anderson going even deeper into insanity, still trying to strangle his creation, who was also trying to escape his hold. The doctor seemed to succeed as Alpha suffocated from the lack of oxygen and his neck was crushed. The doctor smirked at what he thought was a victory until he truly realized his situation. Before he could even scream, his body hit the water. With his height from the fall along with his rapid acceleration, he was essentially hitting concrete. The force killed him, with Alpha's body hitting the water much more softly.

Riley simply stood there, not believing what his eyes had seen. It was over? Just like that? For both Alpha AND Anderson? He looked at Charizard who was just as shocked as he.

"Charizard, can you take me down there?"

Charizard nodded, letting Riley climb onto his back. The two of them flew down to the rocky edge underneath the cliff. Riley jumped off of Charizard and ran into the ice cold ocean water. Tossing his hat aside, he dived into the water to try and find either of them, dead or alive.

Swimming past the Sharpedo and Lumineon, he couldn't find any sign of them, even after diving down three times. He swam back to where Charizard was, shivering from the ice cold water. Charizard cuddled around him, trying to keep his savior warm. He nuzzled the human, as if thanking him for getting him away from his captor of so long.

Riley stared out into the ocean.

"This really is it." he thought. "Both of them… they're dead."

Hours seemed to pass as neither Charizard nor Riley moved. Many things went through Riley's head as he stood there. Finding a passed out Lucario in Veilstone. Taking him back home and nursing him back to health. The Lucario's fearful reaction to Riley, scared of him and of what he would do. Befriending the Lucario, and finally learning of his name: Aaron. Learning about his past, and discovering what Team Galactic had done to him. And Aaron finally recovering from his trauma… only to be captured by Team Galactic again. Just to be killed.

All of it seemed to be so unfair, for one Lucario having to endure such abuse.

And then along came Alpha, who seemed to have a lot of regret for even existing since it required the death of an innocent Pokémon.

And now, all three of them were gone. Aaron, Alpha, and Anderson. Never to live again.

Before Riley knew it, the day had turned to night and Riley had a brief thought about going home… until he remembered that he had no home to return to. He sighed. He didn't feel like going home anyway. Eventually, tiredness swept over him, and he cuddled under Charizard's caring wing, soon falling asleep.

* * *

><p>Riley woke up groggy the next morning, especially considering yesterday's hectic events wore him out. He slowly stood up, looking around the rocky edge. Charizard had presumable left, leaving Riley all by his lonesome self. From here, he knew he could navigate his way back home, though there was much to go back to.<p>

Until…

"…ugh…" Riley heard moaning coming from another location on the shore. He quietly yet quickly ran to the sound, wondering in the back of his mind that perhaps Alpha did survive. But then, why did the groan sound so different… yet familiar?

Riley walked onto the scene. Immediately, his eye caught onto something.

A Lucario, groaning and laying on the ground.

The Lucario managed to stand himself up before Riley could even offer to help him. After hacking out some excess water, he turned to face Riley.

"R-Riley." he stuttered. "It's me."

From the voice alone, Riley knew who it was. The two ran up to each other and affectionately embraced.

"How – what – I – how – why?" A flurry of confusion came over Riley. "How on Earth…?"

"If you promise not to interrupt, I'll explain." Aaron chuckled.

* * *

><p>The two sat on the rocks at the shore, overlooking the same cruel, yet beautiful ocean that Alpha and Anderson were thrown into.<p>

"So… what happened? How were you able to come back? Did that theory of yours actually work?"

"Well… not exactly." Aaron admitted. "I thought it might, but I guess that line of logic doesn't work for bringing back the dead. So, while you were asleep, I went back up to heaven as an angel and talked to God Himself."

Riley was incredibly startled. "God? You mean THE God? Are you serious?!"

Aaron nodded. "Yes. And I pleaded and pleaded with Him to let me go back to Earth and live a true life. It turns out that I didn't even need to do all of that pleading. He… let me come back, Riley. So I could be with you."

Riley was in awe. The things this Lucario had been through were unbelievable. Though, despite this miracle, something still plagued Riley's mind.

"What about Alpha?"

Aaron smiled. "He's doing very well up there. I saw him on my way out. We finally met and he was a really nice guy. He confessed that he felt really guilty about me having to die so he could live, but I told him that it was OK. In fact, I was glad that he could come up here and that we could meet. And… he told me to tell you that he's cool with everything now. I already told my family and him and Phoenix goodbye."

Riley couldn't help but cry, both from joy and relief. Aaron was going to get a second chance at life.

The two finally let go of each other.

"I'm free. I'm rid of my now-broken chains. This is a new beginning for me, Riley." he told him "And I'm glad that it gets to be with you."

Riley smiled. "Come on, Aaron. Let's go home."

The two walked together out of the forest and into Canalave City. "…Wait. You mean that pile of ash that burned down?"

Riley sighed. "Yes, that home."

"…Did you ever get homeowner's insurance?"

"NO!"

Aaron stepped back a bit from Riley. "Never mind, then. But then, what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." shrugged Riley. "I don't have any emergency funds in place, and even if I did, it wouldn't be enough to buy a house. I-"

Riley was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone ringing. He picked it up and recognized the number as Maylene's.

_"That's right." _he remembered. _"I call Maylene to come over here when Aaron died… guess they don't know that he came back to life."_

He flipped the cell phone open as he sat down on a nearby bench. "Hello, Maylene?"

Her voice came through on the other end. "Hey, Riley. You'll never believe what happened to me while I was trying to get over to Canalave. It turned out that I made a wrong turn somewhere along the line, and I ended up on Route 216."

Riley couldn't believe it. How can one person get so horrifically lost?

"Anyway," she continued. "We were stuck on the route and Lucas tried to leave to get help… while it was still hailing outside on the route and he almost froze to death. A bunch of ice gathered on his chest spike and I tried to remove it… and… I kinda accidently ripped the spike out."

"And it can't be put back on." Lucas interrupted.

"And that." Maylene muttered. "Fortunately, a Charizard came our way and offered a ride to Canalave City. We took it, and here we are. Back in your house. I let myself in with the spare key. Hope you don't mind."

Riley's eyes widened. _"Back in my house?" _he thought. _"But the house burned to the ground, how can it possibly be there?!"_

"Uh no, I don't mind. I'll be there soon." he disconnected from the line and started in a mad sprint for the house. It was just now, that Riley realized that all of this time, Aaron was holding an egg.

"Aaron? Is that… yours?"

"Yeah."

"So, you made i-"

"No, I didn't make it." he said. "It's a little complicated. I got it from a friend who wanted me to give it to you to replace me. But then I wanted to come back to Earth and DID, and I don't really know what to do with it now."

"…We'll find somebody to give it to. Maybe give it to some aspiring trainer of Sinnoh or something like that. Now, come on, let's get going!"

The two continued to sprint through the city to find where Riley's house used to be. After a 30-minute long run through the city, he found where it used to be.

Or rather, where it now stands.

Riley gasped. His house was here. But… how was it possible? He saw this house burnt to the ground just yesterday! Upon approaching the house, Riley noticed a letter in the open mailbox of the house. He slowly took the letter out of its' envelope and examined it. It was a beautiful golden color, and it spoke of royalty. He finally opened the letter and read its' contents.

'A little housewarming gift for you and Aaron. I'm sure you'll appreciate it.'

Signed, G

As Riley folded up the letter and tucked it into his pocket, he realized that everything was finally back to the way it should be.

Aaron was alive again.

Anderson was dead, and would no longer threaten them.

And Alpha had ascended to a better place, one where he could live out the rest of his eternal days happy.

And with all of that settled, the two of them ran into the house, ready to start a life together anew.

The End

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><p>YES! I FINISHED IT! I was determined, and I knew I could finish it! Finally, Riley and Aaron can have their happy ending. I'd like to thank some people in particular for helping me. A big shout-out goes to Tanon, who helped me with a lot of spelling and grammar errors that he helped to point out. Kudos, Tanon. Also, thanks to Matthias123 and the numerous others who helped me with ideas during this story's temporary hiatus. Lastly, thanks to all of you guys who have been so patient with me and have read this story all the way through. I do hope that the ending satisfies you. Anyway, that's it for Breaking the Chains. Don't forget to Read and Review. And I hope you guys will keep a sharp eye on me for more things to come!<p>

AuraWielder


	19. Update - Sequel in Development

Breaking the Chain Update

Hey there, I've got some great news to fans of Breaking the Chains. A sequel is in development, and I'm planning to go all-out in this one. It will take a different direction compared to BtC, but I hope you guys will enjoy it. Not all details are finalized yet, and it likely won't debut for a while (I'm aiming for Winter 2013, after the release of Pokemon X and Y). However, here's what I have so far.

The fic plays with alternate timelines a bit. In an alternate reality, Aaron willingly gave in to Team Galactic, which in turn drastically altered the future. This version of Aaron is instead a tyrannical commander of a militia, with Cyrus as ultimate ruler. A resistance forms against the corrupt dictatorship, and Dialga, who is in the resistance, travels back in time to get the help of 'Breaking the Chains' Riley and Aaron to help them against the dictatorship.

Here are some notes regarding the fic. Review if you could about what you think, and any suggestions you might have. The sequel is titled: Conquering the Dark.

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><p>Conquering the Dark Planning<p>

Set 8 years after Breaking the Chains

Breaking the Chains (1 year passes) Diamond/Pearl/Platinum (3 years pass) Black/White (2 years pass) Black2/White2 (2 years pass) Conquering the Dark (taking place before Pokemon X and Y)

Arc 1 – Establishing the alternate universe. Setting: a desolate Sinnoh.

Cyrus: Tyrannical ruler of the alternate timeline, he was made into the world's ruler. After AU Aaron submitted to him after intensive torture, the two worked together to propel Cyrus to rule his 'world without spirit'. AU Aaron made the condition that he would be instigated at second-in-command, which Cyrus complied with. The two wielded Arceus' power together after years of forging the perfect Red Chain using parts of Palkia's scales (who willingly betrayed his mother for the promise of power), with a bond that could not be broken. With this power, the three became tyrants, defeating every army put into their way.  
>Personality: A complete tyrant. His vision of a perfect world is 'one without spirit', and seeks to destroy all who oppose that idea. He commands Arceus (against her will) to get his power and his point across.<p>

Palkia: Tyrannical torturer of an alternate timeline, one where Aaron instead made the decision to submit to Team Galactic pre-Breaking the Chains. He betrayed his mother Arceus to Cyrus in exchange for power underneath Cyrus' new government.  
>Personality: As top torturer of the new government underneath Cyrus, this Palkia embodies betrayal and shares a love of torture with AU Aaron. He's willing to stab anybody in the back for power or higher status.<br>Trivia: Has the nickname 'Judas' by resistance members. Unlike the biblical Judas, he does not regret his betrayals.

Arceus: Forced to be Cyrus' slave, she commands the power to destroy armies and opposing forces against her own will. The Red Chain keeps her held captive to Cyrus. She wishes to break free of her own chains to restore the world to normal, but no longer has the power to.  
>Personality: Formerly large and in charge of the Pokémon World, her personality shifted to being a meek and submissive Pokémon when her will was taken away. She no longer fights to escape their control, but she still wishes every day that things could once again be normal.<p>

Commander Aaron: The AU version of BtC Aaron, ruling as Cyrus's second in command chief. In charge of commanding the military. In this universe, he submitted to Team Galactic.  
>Personality: Sick and sadistic, possibly more so than Palkia. He embodies every trait rejected by BtC Aaron, often getting a sick thrill from defeating the opposition. He likes to keep most of the opposing militia alive, so when they become his P.O.W.'s, he can slowly torture them to death. This thrill from torture may be associated with the torture he endured from Team Galactic before submitting to them.<p>

Riley: Dead in this continuity. Formerly a member of the resistance.

The Resistance:

Mewtwo: The original Mew clone created by scientists in Kanto. Being one of the most powerful to ever exist (on par with Arceus, but is not enslaved unlike her), he escaped when AU Aaron's army invaded Kanto. No one aside from New Mewtwo escaped with him, as he did not have the proper time to warn anybody in Kanto or Johto. He teleported around from place to place, trying to stay safe. He eventually found refuge with the resistance. He has gained the ability to transform into a new form. It increases his speed dramatically, but makes him extremely fragile, leaving him to only use it when appropriate.  
>Personality: He knows how serious the situation of the world is, but still tries to make the most of every day. He is not the typical 'emo experiment' others make him out to be, but suffers from bouts of depression and wishing that he could've saved Kanto and Johto. Out of all Kanto legendaries, he is the only non-enslaved one. He functions as a double agent for the Resistance, gathering information from Team Galactic and reporting it back to the others so they can react to whatever Team Galactic has planned.<p>

Dialga: A key player in Conquering the Dark, Dialga was the one who founded the resistance after her brother Palkia turned to evil. She hates everything her brother has become, and wants to return the world to normal, along with helping her mother break free of her chains to Cyrus. She controls time, and is the one that goes back to ask BtC Riley and Aaron for their help.  
>Personality: Resentful of her brother's betrayal, she is unwilling to ever forgive her brother. Inside the resistance, she doesn't talk a whole bunch. Unlike Reshiram, she is not very friendly despite not talking much. She keeps to herself and only talks to let the group know what to do.<p>

Darkrai: The stealthiest of the entire resistance, his job is to frequently to use his shadow stealth to sneak into P.O.W. camps and teleport out the most important P.O.W.s out (but only one by one to avoid arousing suspicion). He also helps to counsel the P.O.W.s and help comfort and assure them that they will be OK.  
>Personality: The most emotive and understanding of the resistance, he is very kind and understanding of the emotional aspects of war. He understands the psychological aspects of fear, and will use his foes' worst fears against them, dragging them to an illusion world where their fears come true. He also functions as psychological support for the resistance.<p>

Groudon: One of the best friends of Rayquaza before he had been kidnapped by the resistance, the lost of him has devastated him greatly. Nevertheless, he continues to move on, in the hopes of someday restoring a normal world.  
>Personality: Groudon is a rough-and-gruff character. Being the 'macho man' of the resistance, he lives up to the reputation by being one of the strongest members of the entire resistance. He enjoys a good fight, and even has that vulnerable soft spot underneath the rough-and-gruff appearance.<p>

Reshiram: The wife of Zekrom, she is one of the very few married Legendaries. Her husband Zekrom is among the ones brainwashed to join the Commander's army. Part of her motive to joining the resistance was to restore the world to normal, but she also now aims to bring Zekrom back to normal.  
>Personality: Very soft-spoken, she is not one to ever say much. However, to underestimate her power would be a grave mistake. She can, and will, brutally kill you should the need arise. The only one she will not kill is Zekrom, due to her goal of hoping to restore him to normal. However, be kind to her, and she can become a great friend.<p>

Keldeo: The sole surviving Musketeer of Unova, his former mentor figures and family (Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion) were killed protecting Keldeo from the Commander's army. He escaped the Commander's clutches by getting onto a ship bound for Sinnoh at the last moment. There, he met up with Xerneas, who introduced him to the resistance. He has personally vowed to avenge his family for their wrongful deaths.  
>Personality: Formerly extremely friendly and outgoing, his heart has hardened somewhat due to the loss of his family and mentors. However, he is by no means stone-cold. Get to know him well enough, and if he lets you in, he can easily become your vibrant and lively best friend. But if you betray him, he will never forgive you.<p>

Xerneas: The only Kalos Pokémon (or living being from Kalos for that matter) to escape the nuclear bombing and hatred Cyrus had for the newly discovered region. He serves as Keldeo's mentor after Cobalion, Terrakion, and Virizion died protecting Keldeo from the Commander's ruthless army. He is of the rare Fairy-type, which makes him invaluable against the many Dragon-typed members of the Commander's army.  
>Personality: Being Keldeo's mentor, he aims to teach him everything he can. He also fights in battle when forced against Dragon-types. He also acts as an advisor for the group, and he and Darkrai are often good Pokémon to go to for advice.<p>

Former Resistance members:

Zekrom: Brainwashed to be one of the soldiers of the Commander's army, he is ruthless in his tactic plans and in battle. He was a former resistance member before being kidnapped and brainwashed by the Commander himself. He worked his way up to a Major rank, and is determined to now take everybody in the resistance down.

Rayquaza: Also brainwashed by the Commander, he instead operates as the security guard of sorts for prisoners. He also does the torturing whenever Palkia and the Commander aren't around. He was also a former resistance member prior to being captured.

BtC Characters:

BtC Riley: Originated in Breaking the Chains. He was the one who adopted Aaron as a Pokémon after the events of the story. Since the 8 years after Breaking the Chains, much has changed about Riley. He is much more in tune with his Aura Skills, which he only had a cursory knowledge of in BtC. He is only able to use Aura Sphere, and in times of extreme crisis, Aura Storm. His Aura Abilities have other uses though. He has gained the power to read minds after much training (which he does not use unless absolutely necessary), and the power to 'sense' incoming traps. His roster has expanded to include two other Pokémon besides Aaron: Tyranitar and Metagross.

BtC Aaron: Originated in Breaking the Chains. Aaron has grown from being very meek, into very strong. He is still extremely powerful, and a key member of Riley's team. He will listen to any command Riley gives him, but also answers to his own God. Having overcome the tragedies he lived through in Breaking the Chains, he now lives a very happy life with Riley.

Tyranitar (Nick): Formerly under the control of Doctor Anderson in Breaking the Chains, he has happy joined Riley to train and live with him once he was broken free from his own chains. He has grown even more powerful under Riley's ownership than he ever has under Anderson's, likely due to not being mind-controlled.  
>Personality: Being broken free of Anderson's control had, at first, broken him psychologically. The memories of Pokémon he had murdered under Anderson's control haunted him for a long time, before he could finally learn to accept, with Riley's help, that it was not his fault that he had no power over himself under Anderson's control. He has since forgiven himself of his own transgressions and vowed himself to Riley and God, becoming arguably the most religious member of the group. Is rather optimistic.<p>

Metagross (Magnus): Riley received his Metagross as a Beldum in Hoenn from former Champion Steven Stone, who Riley is a big fan of, and has a deep admiration for. Riley has since then carefully raised him, also being the only Pokémon that Riley has fully raised by himself.  
>Personality: Quite surprisingly, Metagross grew to be the cynic of Riley's Pokémon, despite being the only one raised by Riley since first hatching. He has become good friends with Tyranitar and Aaron, but unlike them, is rather unreligious. He personally doesn't believe in a God, but Riley feels no need to force religion on him, and believes that Metagross can choose to believe how he wants to. Regardless, Metagross is a powerful and reliable member to Riley's team. Serves as a contrast to Tyranitar's strong beliefs and optimism.<p>

BtC Maylene: Just like Riley, much has changed about Maylene since the events of BtC. She has also grown in strength, both with herself and her Pokémon. While she can't exactly use aura powers like Riley, she makes up for it with the surprising physical strength she has acquired, including the strength of her Pokémon.

Lucas: The original Lucario who served as Aaron's harasser in BtC has grown into someone much more. While still somewhat grouchy and still protective of Maylene, he has toned down his hostility. He likes to think of himself as being Maylene's 'bodyguard' of sorts, even though Maylene can fend for herself. The longing for a girl he had was granted when he met Victoria, a Blaziken with the special 'Speed Boost' ability.

Champion: One of Maylene's first ever Pokémon along with Lucas, Champion (usually referred to as 'Champ') is now a Machamp. He has the strange peculiarity of preferring brains over brawn, despite his species preference of using pure strength. His battle tactics usually include a combination of his brute strength plus some clever trickery. He is slightly jealous of Lucas getting Victoria, though he is all right with it.

Victoria: A Blaziken from Hoenn, she is the most recent addition to Maylene's party. Maylene had joined Riley on his trip to Hoenn when Riley surprisingly presented her with the gift of a Pokémon egg. When she asked where Riley got it, he said that a local Pokémon professor gave it to him as thanks for chasing off a pack of wild Zigzagoons harassing the poor man. She was eventually raised up into a Blaziken with Speed Boost, even with Lucas' help. The two really got to know each other, and are currently dating.

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><p>This is what I have down so far. More characters are planned (like the obvious BtC characters) but have not been written yet. Once pre-planning is complete, I will start writing the fic. However, pre-planning will take a while. And again, the story will probably not launch until around Winter 2013, after the release of Pokemon X and Y. Any suggestions, again, are truly appreciated. I hope you all look forward to this fic. I know that I am.<p>

EDIT: Keep your eye on this list. Along with my notes, this list will be gradually updated with characters until the release.

EDIT 2: Now, there is a oneshot set between "Breaking the Chains" and "Conquering the Dark" out now titled "Past Transgressions". It goes in-depth about Tyranitar and how he joined Riley, taking place several days after "Breaking the Chains". So check that out if you want to!

EDIT 3: With the addition of MegaLucario being revealed, I plan to incorporate him somehow into Conquering the Dark.

EDIT 4: This list is finished updating for now, but this doesn't mean that these are all of the characters that will appear. I'm sure more will appear later in the story, but the planning out of these characters is completed. Writing on Chapter 1 of Conquering the Dark will begin after the info I need of Pokemon X and Y is revealed, and Chapter 1 will not be released until after the games are out.

- AuraWielder


End file.
